Follow in her footsteps
by LukeAndLorelai Brucas Fan
Summary: ON HIATUS! I'm not going to be doing this story for awhle yet, maybe never again. Just thought you should know.
1. The Begining

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gilmore Girls or anything

Please, bare with me here, I've confused myself with this and I'm trying to sort it out

CHAPTER 1

"Lori. Come on, get up or you'll be late for school." Lorelai Hayden called as she knocked on her daughter's bedroom door.

"Excuse me ma'am." The new maid said as she put folded sheets into the linen closet.

"Kate, I've told you before, not to call me ma'am. It makes me feel old. Lorelai will do." As she said those final words she could hear her mother's disapproval, _'Really Lorelai you mustn't allow yourself to become chummy with your staff.'_

"Right, Lorelai. I'll try and remember that. Um, Miss Lori left for school twenty minutes ago."

"Seriously? Where does this kid come from? She is nothing like I was at sixteen."

Kate smiled and went back to her work as Lorelai headed down to the kitchen.

"So, you're daughter is an absolute mystery." She said, pouring a coffee for herself and her husband Christopher. "Myth busters are devoting an entire episode to us. To see whether or not it's actually possible for two carefree people like you and me to ever give birth to such a serious child like her. Or if it was just a mix up at the hospital."

"Lorelai, where was Lori last night?" Chris asked looking up from the paper.

"She was at a party with her friends." At Christopher's angry look, she tried to defend her daughter. "She needs some time out you know. She's the perfect student all the time and it's so hard on her."

"That's the third party-"

"This month. She's ahead in all of her classes, I don't see the problem if she has a slow day every once in a while."

"Princeton will see-"

"Princeton will see a perfect student. So will Harvard, Yale and Columbia" Lorelai defended again.

"I just think we need to set some ground rules."

"Ground rules? Chris, Lori's almost sixteen. I think we left the rules a bit too late. Don't you?" He glanced at his watch and folded the paper.

"I have to get to work. We'll talk about this later."

Lorelai stood glaring after her husband, the coffee's cold and forgotten on the counter.

351


	2. After Party

I own nothing.

I wanted to ask your help with something. Ages ago, i read a fic called "Story Of The Year" at least I think that's what it's called. It was about Rory and Tristan. They were together in NY, and Jess and their friend Winter were, ther. Then the bioys moved, and Rory had to move. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, or knows the authours name could you please let me know? Thanks, luv you guys.

CHAPTER 2

Lori walked the halls of Chilton with a massive headache.

"Lori, have a good time last night?" a guy asked as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Hey Lori. Have fun?" A girl from English asked as Lori's three best friends fell into step beside her

"Will someone please tell me what the hell happened last night? What did I do?" Lori begged as her friends laughed.

"You mean you don't remember? Kat." Paris Gellar asked with a smile.

"Well of course not. Did you see how much she had to drink?" Louise Grant added.

"That explains the headache. But who's Kat?" They stopped in front of Paris' locker and she produced two Panadol's. Lori gladly took them with the bottle of water Madeline Lynn handed her. "Thanks. Now, what did I do?" they resumed their walk down the hallway.

"You gave everyone a little show." Louise said, pushing her perfect blonde hair off of her face as she started to dance.

"WHAT?" Lori froze.

"Yeah, um, you were doing a Kat Stratford from '10 Things I Hate About You'"

"You mean I danced on the table?" they all nodded. "Oh, God. Ok what else?"

"Well he was there-" Madeline began the story.

"And he was hot!" Louise continued.

"You went up to Jason' room…"

"And when you came out you were both… dishevelled I think the word is." Paris finished with an evil grin.

"Kill me now!" Lori cried. Just as _he _came sauntering around the corner.

"Hey, did you have a good time last night?" Louise asked, with a sexy smile.

Tristan Dugrey returned it, full force.

"I defiantly did Louise. And how 'bout you girls?"

"Awesome!"

"A blast!"

"It was ok."

"Come on Paris. You've gotta loosen up. Could I borrow Lori for a minute?" he turned his smile on all four of them. Lori stood about a foot in front of the group but they pushed her further forward.

"Sure, we don't need her any more." Madeline grinned and the three friends turned to walk away.

"Thanks ladies. I'll see you later." He called to them and they each waved.

Tristan and Lori began walking outside. Lori shielded her eyes from the light, and Tristan quickly guided her to a shady spot.

"So, about last night…" Tristan began but Lori had to cut him off.

"I'm sorry. I have to stop you there. You'll probably find this embarrassing, but I have no idea what happened last night. So whatever it is we did, I don't remember. I'm sorry."

"Oh, good. So I can keep the money." He said as if thinking to himself.

"What money?" Lori asked, confused.

"Oh, we bought a lottery ticket together and it won four thousand dollars. But if you don't remember buying it, I'll just keep it." He smiled, letting her know he was kidding. "Relax. Nothing much happened. I mean, I loved the dance, but, as far as I know, you're still a Mary." He used a name he had called her since they met. They had practically grown up together, and he could see how innocent she was when she needed to be. So, she was a Mary when it came to teachers, parents, and grandparents.

"So we didn't…" she let her voice trail off, knowing he would understand.

"No. Nothing like that. You may find this hard to believe but when I know that a girl is drunk I never do anything too serious. Honestly. We just fooled around a little. Then I drove you home that is it. I promise." She looked into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth.

Let the evil Chiltonites makeup their stories. She knew what had happened and that was all that mattered.

"Thank you Tristan!" She cried throwing her arms around him. He laughed and lightly hugged her back.

"No problem. But I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot," she said sitting back.

"I was thinking, maybe we could go out sometime. To dinner, or a movie or something." He suddenly looked very strange. In the entire time Lori had known Tristan, and that was almost eleven years, he had never been nervous. Yet here he was.

"_You_ want to go on a date with _me_?" she was amazed. She wasn't really his kind of girl. Louise was a little closer to the mark.

"I do… I did, now I can see this was a bad idea. Forget about it."

"No, I don't want to forget about it. I would love to go out with you Tristan."

"Really?" he seemed very surprised.

"Really, and you're lucky. You won't have to sit through one of those awkward first-time-meeting-the-parents things, coz Chris and Lorelai already love you."

"Well that is a plus."

They made plans for their date and then went their separate ways to class and to their friends.

809


	3. The Unhappiness of Former Royalty

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! LoVe23 - u are my favorite person in the world right now. And yes, Bookluvr16, Lori is Rory. Sorry about beingconfusing, I'll try and clear a few things up soon.

CHAPTER 3

Within two months they were the hottest and most talked about couple since, surprise, surprise, Lorelai Gilmore and Christopher Hayden. Lori was right, her parents loved Tristan, and so did her mother's parents. Janlan and Sophia Dugrey were extremely glad that Tristan had found happiness. But his parents didn't care at all.

The teens partied every weekend, but surprisingly, their grades didn't suffer. Tristan's actually got better. Both of their reputations changed as their relationship grew stronger. Their life together as Chilton Royalty had begun.

Former Chilton royalty was not so happy. Their relationship had been strained for years. But no one realised how bad it was getting.

At sixteen, Lorelai fell pregnant. But just after breaking the news to the future grandparents, the baby girl was discovered to be dead. Christopher had offered to marry her, and even after the miscarriage his offer still stood.

Lorelai refused him for years, telling him, that once he graduated from Princeton, then they could be together. At twenty-two they were married in a small ceremony.

A year later Lorelai was thrilled to give birth to a beautiful healthy baby girl, named Lorelai Leigh Hayden (Lori).

For years they lived happily, but occasionally the thought of the child they had lost, filled their home with a solemn silence.

When Lori was twelve she was told about the miscarriage. But it really meant nothing to her. Of course she was sad, but she moved on.

Christopher's parents had never liked their daughter-in-law. They blamed her for their son almost not going to Princeton. They didn't realise that she was the one who finally convinced him to go.

Their dislike for Lorelai was never lost on Lori. And even though they spoiled her, she hated them for the way they treated her best friend.

Their feelings about the marriage impacted strongly on the couple's decision to file for divorce when Lori turned fourteen. Even though they were in the middle of a messy divorce, they continued to live in the same house. It was their way of allowing Lori a normal life. They didn't quite understand how horrible life would become. They decided to put up a united front in order to meet Tristan again.

Christopher had been spending more and more time at work so Lori was confused when he arrived home early the night of her date. But she didn't mind.

Then Tristan came over for dinner one night. About a month after they got together. Being a Friday night, Richard and Emily were there. It wasn't too bad, except for the long silences, and the angry looks shooting to and from the middle generation.

"I am so sorry about that," Lori said to Tristan as they drove away from her house towards his. "I didn't think it would be that bad. That was so embarrassing."

"Hey, it's ok. I mean, my parents have been like that for years. Worse even. And they have no plans to separate "

"I can't imagine growing up like that. I mean, they've always had their problems, but, it hasn't been this bad in ages."

"It's not much fun." He replied, leaning over to kiss her as they reached the Dugrey mansion. It was bigger than Lori's, and her grandparents. It was beautiful, but cold, empty.

Quickly and quietly they made their way up the stairs to Tristan's room, not wanting to have to speak with Caroline and Anthony.

Once inside the room, with the door locked, they set about making themselves more comfortable. Lori turned on some music, and Tristan poured some drinks from his private stash. Meeting in the middle of the room they undressed each other, and then made their way back towards the bed.

This was not the first time they snuck away from the parental units of the home in order to have their privacy. And it would not be the last.

Sorry. I think this one's a little short, butthings are moving along, so just stay with me.

Also, I'm not sure if the title works, so if you have any sugestions, let me know.


	4. What Happened Last Night?

CHAPTER 4

Five weeks later, Lori woke with an overwhelming urge to vomit. She raced down the hall to her bathroom and puked her guts out.

She showered and dressed, occasionally having to pause as the nausea returned. Then she slowly made her way down to the kitchen.

"Morning hon, how'd you sleep?" Lorelai asked from the coffee maker. Recently Lori had been having nightmares, but she didn't understand anything that was happening in them. Lorelai was convinced it had something to do with the divorce, which would be finalised in a few weeks. Christopher had moved out about five days ago.

"Fine. But I didn't have a very nice wake up call." she sat at the shiny marble top counter, waiting for her coffee.

"Why? Were those stupid Morrison kids throwing stones at your window again? I've told them a million times-"

"No, it wasn't them. Just the after effects of last night I guess." Madeline had thrown a 'sweet sixteen' party for Louise the night before. Although, everyone knew she wasn't exactly the traditional sweet sixteen.

"Oh, how did that go?" Lorelai was very interested in her daughter's life. She said it was because she couldn't go to the fun parties anymore, and that it kept her young.

"Devon broke up with Summer."

"Again?"

"Yep. Fourth time this month. Oh, and Brooke was caught in the bathroom making out with someone other than Scott."

"Oh my god, who was it this time? Jake? Austin?"

"You'll never guess," Lori smiled evilly before giving in. "Haley!"

"WHAT?" they burst out laughing, before Lorelai became serious again. "I always knew there was something odd about that Brooke." She said as she stood up to pour the coffee. Lori grimaced at the cup in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked, confused. Lori had begged for coffee since she was seven.

"I just can't take coffee right now. I-" she clamped a hand over her mouth and ran for the bathroom.

"Lori, what's wrong?" Lorelai followed her daughter into the bathroom, and watched her throw up.

As Lori sat back on her heels, Lorelai handed her a cool wash cloth. She held it against her face and Lorelai watched her helplessly. She'd seen Lori sick before, but this looked worse.

"What exactly happened to you last night?"

"Nothing. I didn't drink anymore than usual. Actually I drank a lot less. I just… I must have a bug or something."

"Do you want me to get you anything?" they started walking towards the stairs.

"No. I'll be fine. You should get to your meeting."

"Oh honey trust me, I'd much rather be here with you than go to a stupid DAR meeting. But if you're sure…"

"I am. If I need anything, I'll have Kate call you." Lori said as she climbed back into bed.

"Ok, honey. I love you."

"Love you too mom."

"I'll send Kate up with all the necessary items for vomit girl. Bye."

"Bye mom." Lori laughed as her mom attempted to fly out of the room.

She lay in her bed for hours, sipping water and trying to keep down dry toast. After about four hours she was able to get up and walk. So she walked to the computer and did her homework.

544


	5. DeJaVu

Ok, your all going to hate me. No one wanted Lori pregnant, but this was my plan from the beginning, so, read it if u want. Don't if it's too predictable.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.

CHAPTER 5

For the next three days Lori went through the same things. On the fourth day, Tristan called saying he would be by after school

"How did you know I was home sick?" Lori asked.

"Your mom called Paris and she told us the other day. I'm so sorry I haven't called you; I've just been really busy. But I've cleared my entire afternoon, so it's all you baby."

"Thanks. But maybe you shouldn't. I don't want you getting sick too."  
"I'll be fine. I'll see you in a couple of hours. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."  
They hung up and Lori lay back thinking. They had only been together three months, but one day out of the blue, Tristan had said "I love you" and Lori knew she felt the same way.

She fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

When she woke up, Tristan was sitting by the bed in an arm chair. He was staring at her, a worried look on his face.

"Lori? How are you feeling? Any better?" He asked grabbing her hand.

"A little bit. I just, I can't figure out what's wrong."

"Well, you're not a doctor babe. But I am taking you to one, first thing in the morning."

"No. I'll be fine." Lori tried to sit up, but fell back. "I'm sure I can go to school tomorrow. Everything will be fine."

"I'm going to get you some tea, then you are going to sleep some more. And I will be sitting right here when you wake up." he stood and kissed her on the cheek before leaving the room. Lorelai stood in the doorway, she smiled and thanked him as he passed.

Taking his seat by the bed, she watched her daughter, thoughtfully. "Lori, I was just talking to Kate. She said that the only thing you've eaten all day is Indian food. Although I could smell it before she told me."

"Yeah, I know. It's weird but I've been craving it for days, and I finally figured out what it was that I wanted this morning."

"Babe, um, when was the last time you had your period?"" Lorelai asked a little worried.

"Uhh, about a month ago. It's a few days late I guess, but…" her voice suddenly failed and her face drained of all color.

"It's ok. We'll go to a doctor tomorrow. Everything's going to be fine." Lorelai tried to reassure er, but Lori didn't seem too convinced. "Don't worry. Just get some rest."

She left the room. Tristan returned with the tea. After drinking all of it, Lori tossed and turned for about an hour before falling asleep.

"Hartford Women's Clinic. Boy this place brings back memories." Lorelai said as she and Lori climbed out of their Jeep.

It had taken awhile, but Lori was finally able to convince Tristan to go to school, telling him that he wouldn't be comfortable at the doctors.

The two woman took a few steps towards the building, but suddenly Lorelai froze as memories came flooding back…

_1985_

"_Miss Gilmore?" A large woman in a white cap asked._

"_Yes. That's me." A young Lorelai replied, looking up from her magazine. She stood up quickly._

"_The doctor will see you now."_

"_Thankyou." Lorelai replied following the nurse to the doctor's office._

"_Lorelee Gilmore?" A man asked, walking in with a clip board._

"_It's Lorelai, actually. With an 'I'." she corrected him, but he didn't seem to notice._

"_And you're here for a pregnancy test. Is that correct?"_

"_Yep. Just a regular, pee-on-the-stick- pregnancy test. Only better, coz those ones suck. They all give different answers."_

"_All right then. If you could just go into that cubicle, and ah… pee in this cup, then we can get started."_

_Lorelai waited half an hour, and then she was told she was going to be a mommy._

"_Are you sure? I mean, I can take another test, just to be positively sure."_

"_No need dear. I can assure you, you are in fact pregnant." He said with what was probably supposed to be a comforting smile._

"_Oh, ok… Thank you." Before she left, Lorelai made an appointment for a few weeks down the track._

_The first person she told was her best friend Shari Then came the hard part; telling Christopher. Surprisingly it wasn't too bad. He was really supportive. And together they came up with a way to break the news to their parents._

_The night was an absolute disaster. Francine couldn't stop crying. Straub and Richard argued constantly over whose company Chris would work at. And Emily just kept drinking._

_Three weeks later, Lorelai was at the clinic with Shari, when she received the devastating news. Her baby had been dead for two and a half weeks. So there was no point in telling the parents, because she was already dead that night._

"Mom!" Lorelai snapped back to the present, to see her daughter staring at her.

"If you want to stay out here, that's ok. I can go in alone."

"No. I know what that's like and I don't want that for you. Come on, let's go. I'm fine."

Lorelai lead the way inside. They went through the same things that she had gone through years before, only this time; there was someone there to comfort the young woman.

After the test, Lori was given the news.

"You are pregnant."

That's it so far. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!


	6. I Can't Do This

So, I've got another idea, but I need to stick with the pregnancy thing for a while. Please just hang in there.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

CHAPTER 6

The two Hayden women drove home in silence. When they reached their house Lori went straight to her room.

She lay on her bed crying. '_Ok._' She thought. '_I can either, have the baby and forget about all my dreams, and everything that I've worked for. No graduation. No college. No Foreign Correspondence... Or, I can just get rid of it. Right now, mom and I are the only ones who know, so it wouldn't be too hard to keep it from people.' _

Just the thought of killing her baby sickened her. After the stories of what her mother went through with her first pregnancy, there was no way she could possibly do that.

'_There's always adoption.' _Lori thought. '_But that has its problems too. I could hide the pregnancy for the next few months. At least until school lets out. Then I could defer college for a year and enrol when everyone I know is already a year into it._

So far that was the best option.

"I can't do this on my own." She whispered. Angrily brushing tears away she picked up the phone and dialled.

"Hey, Lori. How are you feeling?" Louise asked, answering her cell phone on the third ring. "Tristan said you were going to the doctor. Did you find out what's wrong?"

"Um, hi Louise. Yeah, I did. Would you be able to come over after school? I need some advice."

"I think so, but I'll have to check with Paris."

"Oh, right, the Franklin meeting. Don't worry about it. This can wait for a few days." She couldn't help it. She sniffled.

"Ok, Lori, what's wrong? Tristan didn't say anything about a cold. Have you been crying?"

"Uh, yeah. But don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"No. I'm worrying. I'll be over in twenty minutes."

Louise hung up before Lori could object.

"Madeline?" Louise tapped her dark haired friend on the shoulder as she entered the library.

"Yeah?"

"I have to go to Lori's. There's some kind of big problem. Could you cover for me in the Franklin meeting?" she asked riffling through her back pack.

"Sure but what about-"

"Here, just give this to Paris and tell her I'll explain later." Louise handed over an article and Madeline sat stunned.

Louise ran down the hallway, heading for the student parking lot. Just before she reached the door she saw Tristan. While she debated calling him over, he turned, saw her and quickly stepped into her path.

"Louise, where are you going?" he asked a little confused. Louise wasn't exactly a brain, but she never skipped school on her own. And Madeline was no where in sight.

"I, I have to go home. My… step-brother's sick. I'll see you later." Tristan watched as she flew out the door and jumped in her car.

"You don't have a step-brother." He muttered. Just then he remembered that Lori was going to the doctor. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled her number.

"The number you have requested is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.' A mechanical voice told him.

"Damn." He hung up and called her house. Lorelai answered.

"Hello?" she asked. Her voice sounded strange, as if she'd been crying.

"Lorelai, its Tristan. I was just wondering if you'd found out what was making Lori sick."

"Oh, um, yeah. She just has a virus. The doctor gave her some pills, to get rid of it. They make her drowsy. I think she's asleep."

"Ok. Well, when she wakes up, could you just tell her I called? And that I've got soccer practice tonight, so I'll try and get there around five?" he asked.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. She's gotten worse, and I think the less people that get near her, the better. I'm sorry Tris. I'll tell her you called, and she might be up for calling you later. I've got to go."

She hung up and he stood there, staring at his phone.

PLEASE READ & REVIEW!


	7. I'm Sorry, Did You Say Pregnant?

CHAPTER 7

Lorelai stood up off the couch and walked up the stairs to Lori's room.

"Lori, honey, can I come in?" she called from the door.

"Yeah."

Lorelai walked in and sat at the end of the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't know. This is so weird. I just… I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do."

"What you're going to do?" Lorelai asked, knowing what it meant.

"Yeah. But I just I can't decide. I called Louise. She said she'll come over. I didn't tell her what had happened, but she could tell I'd been crying, so she got worried." Lorelai bit her lip.

"What? What happened?" Lori asked, getting scared.

"Tristan called. He said he wanted to come by after soccer practice. I told him you had a virus and you were sleeping. But it's Saturday tomorrow, so there's nothing to stop him from sitting by your bed for two days straight."

"Oh man. What am I going to do mom?"  
"I don't know honey. But we'll figure something out."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Moments later Louise's voice was heard.

"Look, I'm one of her best friends. She just called and asked me to come over, so let me go up there!"

Lorelai gave Lori a look that said, 'Be right back' and she rushed out of the room.

Within minutes, Louise was in Lori's room, staring at Lori, trying to guess what was wrong.

The moment she walked in the door, Lori burst into tears. Louise flew to the bed and sat beside her.

"What's wrong? Lori? Shh, it's ok. Just tell me what's happened." Louise picked up Lori's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. She let herself cry for a little while longer, as she built up the courage to say what she had to say. She swallowed hard, took a deep breathe and whispered,

"I'm pregnant." Louise's face paled slightly.

"I'm sorry, I thought you just said that you were pregnant." Lori stared at her friend, and Louise realised that she had said it. "Oh my God! Does Tristan know?"

Lori shook her "I don't know how to tell him. He's been so sweet, checking on me all the time. He was really worried about me last night. But I just don't know how he'll react."

"He loves you, of course he's going to stand by you."

"How do you know that?"

"Well your dad did, didn't he? When your mom was pregnant, he wanted to marry her, even after she lost the baby." All of Lori's friends knew about Lorelai's first pregnancy.

"Yeah, but my dad and Tristan are so different. I don't think he'll be able to handle this. And besides, look what's happened to my parent's marriage. They got married too young and now; they can barely stand to be in the same room." The thought of that happening to her and Tristan terrified Lori and she burst into tears again.

"It's ok. We'll come up with something. Don't worry honey." Louise climbed into the bed and held Lori as she continued to cry.

"Oh, I have something to tell you." Louise said half an hour later.

"What?" Lori wiped at her tears, confused.

"Summer tried to get back with Devon today. It was so sad, and so funny." Lori realised what Louise was trying to do, and it was working. "She like begged him to take her back in the middle of the cafeteria. When it was totally packed. And later, when Madeline and I were walking to English, we saw Devon burst out of the janitor's closet, followed by a crying Summer. He was yelling at her. 'Stay the hell away from me!'" Louise put on a deep voice. "' I don't want to see you again!' It was great."

Both girls laughed. Lori's terror forgotten for a while. They talked for a couple of hours until there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Lori called.

"Paris."

"And Madeline." Lori and Louise smiled.

"Come in." Louise told them, and they walked straight in, sitting on Lori's bed.

"What happened Lori? Louise was so worried about you and she scared the crap out of me." Maddy said as she stared at her two friends. They looked at each other, and with a nod from her blonde friend, Lori began to explain what she had told Louise.

Paris and Madeline sat stunned taking in the information they were given. Finally they spoke.

"I thought you were on the pill. And that Tristan was using condoms." Paris, the most sensible one said.

"I was and he always does, but I forgot one day. At the time I didn't think it would matte, coz we still had the condoms, but it must have broken. I don't know. But we've always used protection. I just don't know how I let this happen."

Paris bit her lip, a little nervous.

"Ok." Louise took charge again. "So, we have to figure out what to do."

"Options?" Paris asked.

"Having the baby," Maddy listed them, "adoption, or…"

"No!" Lori interrupted, knowing what the 'or' was. "I am not, having an abortion. I don't care if this ruins my chances at college or anything else. But I will not kill my child." They all looked at her in shock. She hadn't spoken that passionately about anything in a long time.

"Ok. So, do you think you can take care of a baby?" Paris asked.

"I don't know. I've never even had a chance to practice. Mom and dad never had anymore kids, and pretty much everyone I know is an only child. I'm sure that if I had to do it, I would figure out how."

"Well, don't forget you have us." Madeline volunteered.

"Madeline, what do any of us know about babies and child care?" Paris asked glaring.

"Well nothing, but…"

"Exactly. None of us know how to take care of kids. Because we are all still kids ourselves; we haven't even graduated high school yet."

"Thanks Paris. I feel much better now." Lori said glaring at her friend.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I vote adoption."

"What so we're voting on my kid now? I need advice, not your final decision."

"Well, if you're going to be like that. I'm going home. Some of us still have a chance at Harvard." She spat out the last comment before leaving the room.

The three girls were taken aback after her comment. As Lori's hormones kicked in again, she started to cry. Again.

"Lori, don't listen to her. It's going to be ok. You'll see."

"No. Louise it won't. Paris is right. If I have this baby, even if I give it up for adoption, I can't go to college. Because I'll be to far behind, and won't be able to graduate."

The three friends sat in silence for awhile, before Lori closed her eyes and whispered, "Goodbye Harvard."

PLEASE R&R


	8. Delivering The News P1

You probably think this is crap. But give me time. I am working on the twist you requested.

Disclaimer: ASP owns everything.

CHAPTER 8

Lori Hayden, lay in bed, eating spicy Indian food. It had been two days since Paris had delivered the truth. Over the last two days, Rory had been trying to think of a way to tell Tristan. And her father.

But nothing came to her. Unless of course she just blurted it out. _But I don't want to do that._ She thought

"I have to tell them both today." She said out loud. Dropping the fork she was holding, Lori closed the container she was eating from, and climbed out of bed.

It was Sunday. Tristan had spent the majority of Saturday night sitting beside Lori's bed, but she barely spoke to him. She had pretended to be asleep most of the time.

He had said he would be back at eleven. In twenty minutes.

Lori quickly showered and then picked out some clothes that looked nice. Luckily the morning sickness had become very brief, and only happened every couple of days, so getting ready was easy.

She quickly went down the stairs, carrying a half empty bottle of scotch. Walking into the living room, she put the bottle next to a glass and made sure there was a nice place for Tristan to sit.

'_Why are you doing this? These things aren't going to make the news any easier to hear.'_ She told herself, but something inside of her wouldn't let her stop.

What felt like seconds later, the door bell rang. Lori turned and stared at the large oak door. Kate moved towards it and let Tristan in.

The second he saw Lori, he bolted over to her.

"Lori, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!" he moved her towards the couch and forced her to sit down.

"Tristan I'm fine. I've had more than enough rest over the last week. I just need you to sit here while I tell you something." She said pulling him into the seat next to her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he was worrying more than ever, and she had a feeling it had to do with the fact that she was incredibly pale.

"You should drink this first." She said, standing and pouring him a drink.

He took the drink and drank a little as she sat down.

"Isn't it a bit early for drinks?" He asked.

"You won't think so in five minutes." Lori replied. She clasped her hands together and took a few deep breaths.

"Ok, so what's the big news?" he asked. Neither of them had smiled since he entered the room.

"I… I'm," she swallowed hard as the words formed in her mouth. "I'm pregnant."

The drink slipped out of Tristan's hand and spilled on the floor.

"Oh shit! I'll just get something to clean that up." He stood up and started to move.

"Tristan, freeze." He did. "I just told you that I'm going to have your baby. What are your thoughts on that?"

"My thought? Lori, I'm turning seventeen in three months, I am not old enough to be a father."

"Well, apparently you are!" she said gesturing to her stomach.

"But… how? We use protection. Always"

"Yeah well it looks like it doesn't always work."

"So, what does this mean? What are we going to do?" he asked, dropping back into his seat.

"We?" she asked amazed.

"Yeah, well, it is my kid right?"

"Yeah, who the hell else have I been sleeping with?" Lori was now pissed.

"Ok, so we. What are we going to do?" he repeated his question and she thought.

"I figure, I've got two options. I raise the baby, or I give it up for adoption." She told him her two plans, and he considered them.

"Well, ok, so, we'll raise it together. Are we going to get married or what?"

"Well that's romantic!" she cried sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, I just, I've never been in this situation before!" He was frustrated.

"Neither have I. But now we are, so we need to figure it out."

"Ok. So, will you marry me or not?"

"Not." She replied, fixing him with a glare.

"Why? We're having a kid, we should be married."

"Look around you! This house is the product of a teen pregnancy. My parents marriage is over. I don't want that for my child."

"Fine. So we're not getting married, why am I here? You've already decided everything."

"That's real mature Tristan! I haven't decided everything. I haven't decided anything! But I thought you should find out before I told my father."

"Oh, good, so at least I'll know why he's strangling me to death in my sleep." He cracked a joke, but neither of them felt like laughing. "I have to go. I can't be here right now. I need some time to think."

"Ok, well I thought you should know, my mom's organising a dinner with our parents and grandparents. For some reason she thinks that Richard, Emily, Straub and Francine are going to want to go through this again. You should be there."

"When is it?"

"Next Friday."

"Alright, I'll se you then."

He left the room and slammed the front door. Lori threw herself into the cushions and cried again. She had tried to stay strong. She knew this wouldn't be easy for Tristan, but everything was just too much.

Kate silently entered the room and cleaned up the drink, before leaving the sobbing teen on the couch

.PLEASE READ & REVIEW


	9. Delivering The News P2

CHAPTER 9

A/N: My reason for originally calling Rory Lori, is because I wanted to have her run away and become someone a little different - which included her changing her name.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls

Later that day Christopher returned to the house he had once lived in. Lori had left him a message while he was in a meeting. His secretary said it sounded as if she was crying.

He had driven from one end of Hartford to the other filled with fear. _Has something happened to Lorelai? Why was Lori crying? What is going on?_

As soon as he reached the house, he parked in the driveway and walked right in. He still had his key and didn't see the point in waiting for the maid to answer the door.

"LORI! Where are you?" he yelled walking in the entrance.

"Dad, I'm in here." A small voice called from the living room.

He turned and rushed over to his daughter.

"What's going on? Are you hurt? Where's your mother?"

She looked at her feet, and took a deep breathe.

"Mom's on her way home. I'm not hurt, I'll be ok. I have something to tell you, but I need mom here."

"Ok. Don't ever do that to me again. I was terrified something had happened to you."

"No, nothing's happened. Um, do you want a drink or something?" she asked standing up.

"Sure. What have we got?"

"Um… Scotch. Bourbon, Vodka, Coke, Lemonade."

"I'll take Vodka. But I'll get it you just stay here."

He stood up and went to the drinks cart to pour his Vodka, on his way back to the couch Christopher noticed the almost empty bottle of Scotch beside his daughter.

"Lori, have you been drinking this?" he asked holding it up.

"No. Tristan was here. I needed to give him something."

"How many times have I told you I don't want the two of you drinking? You never know what could happen-"

"Dad something has already happened. That's why I needed you to come here."

"Well, what is it?" he asked, worrying and growing angrier with every second.

"I can't tell you until mom gets back." She replied, again refusing to look at him.

"Fine. But she'd better hurry up." He sat and drank his drink. They sat in silence for about five minutes, before Lorelai walked in the front door.

She glanced in the living room, and then walked to the stairs. Seconds later, she walked backwards to the living room door.

"Chris, what are you doing here?" she asked walking into the room.

"That's what I'd like to know. Lori called my secretary – in tears- and asked me to come over. So, now you're here. Tell me what's going on."

Lorelai glanced at her daughter and realised what was going on.

"I have to tell him mom."

"Tell me what!" he asked standing after finishing his drink.

"Dad, sit down please."

He did as he was asked, and Lorelai placed a comforting hand on Lori's shoulder

"Um… See, I have a small problem. But it's going to get bigger." She started. _Why is this so hard? I've said this so many times it should be easy now. He's your father, that's why it's hard._ But he was confused.

"You what?"

"Just listen please." She took another breathe. "I, uh, I'm pregnant. Tristan and I are going to have a baby."

He stared at the two women in the room, trying hard to process the words that had just been said.

"No. This isn't going to happen. Not again. We'll go somewhere, and-"

"Dad! How can you say that? I am not killing my child. I am going to have this baby. I will raise it with or without your help." Lori glared at the man that claimed to be her father, he was barely ever around, and when he was he was always angry. _I hate him, he will not be involved in this child's life. _She decided then and there.

"Ok, so what are you going to do? Huh? Drop out of school, throw away your dreams. You know what this means don't you? No college Lori. You won't even be able to graduate from Chilton. Your entire life will be ruined. And you will forever have a reminder of why. This child that you, and you alone will have to take care of. It's over. You have nothing!"

Amazingly, after a week of crying, Lori still had tears left. They leaked out of her eyes now.

"Christopher! How dare you speak to my daughter like that? I want you out of here. NOW!" Lorelai yelled at him and he looked at her stunned.

"What? You can't be serious. If I'm gone, who's going to support her and this kid? Come on Lorelai tell me."

"I'll tell you." Lori screamed in her father's face as she stood up. Miraculously she had stopped crying. "Tristan will. I told him, and he said he'll help me. Even though I don't want to marry him."

"Oh great! Tristan Dugrey is going to raise a child. That's a great idea."

"Well, you supposedly did, why can't he?" Lorelai asked angrily. She also believed that Chris could have been more involved in his daughter's life.

"Well that's great. You've got everything planned out. Good bye." He left the house, pretty much the same way Tristan had. But this time, Lori was too angry to cry.

Keep the reviews coming.


	10. Delivering The News P3

CHAPTER 10

Seven days passed, and in that time Lori was finally able to return to school. Her friends were by her side every second, bu Tristan barely spoke to her. He called on her fifth night back at school and apologised for his behaviour. Saying he was confused, but he had made up his mind an he would be there for her whenever she needed him.

On the night of the dinner Lori was in her room trying to find something to wear. In two hours Tristan, Caroline, Anthony, Janlan, Sophia, Richard and Emily would arrive for dinner. Straub and Francine were travelling and wouldn't be able to make it.

She hadn't spoken to her father for the past week, but Kate had informed her that he was not coming to dinner. And she was glad.

"I never want to see him again." She had told her mother. Lorelai had tried to change her mind, but then gave up, realising she didn't want to see him either.

Searching through her closet, Lori finally pulled out a long black dress.

"Mom? Mom, where are you?" she called walking out of her room.

"Bathroom." She called back.

Lori waited patiently until the door opened a moment later.

"How does this look?"

"Black, very slimming. Good choice. They'll never believe you."

"Well, how about we show them the pink sticks?" Lori joked.

"Good idea honey. Yeah, that looks great. How long have we got?"

"Two hours. I can't believe I have to do this."

"Me neither. But, lucky for you, we have an expert on teen pregnancy joining us tonight."

"Oh goody."

"Go get ready. I'm just gonna check with Kate about dinner."

"Ok." They each turned and headed in separate directions, but then Lori stopped

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For not kicking me out. And for being so understanding about everything."

"Oh, babe, I would have been a hypocrite if I'd thrown you out. And I love you. Now go."

At six o'clock, the doorbell rang. Emily and Richard were the first to arrive. Five minutes later, the Dugrey's pulled up, in their separate cars.

The group settled into the living room to have drinks. Lorelai and Tristan sat on either side of Lori, while the Dugrey's sat on another couch and the Gilmore's on another.

"So, " Lorelai began when everyone had a drink in their hands. "I guess you're all wondering why we asked you here."

"Yes, we are. Now would you speed this along please Lorelai? Some of us have businesses to run." Anthony said, and earned himself an angry glare from his father.

"Ok. Well, Lori, Tristan, they're all yours."

Tristan held Lori's hand tightly and looked her in the eye, asking who would speak first.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Sophia, Janlan, Mr. and Mrs, Dugrey, thank you all for coming." She began in a way of building up her strength.

"Uh, Tristan and I have an announcement to make." She took a deep breathe and he squeezed her hand. "I'm… Pregnant." And once again, the words were not easy to say.

The women looked terrified and the men looked pissed off. Richard had a look in his eyes that Lorelai recognised immediately. He looked as if he wanted to castrate the young man in front of him.

"You can't be serious." Anthony Dugrey yelled standing off his chair.

"We are dad. Lori's having a baby, and I'm going to support her." Tristan stood facing his dad.

"With what Tristan?" Caroline asked, recovering slightly from her shock. "Your trust fund?"

"No mother. I'm going to get a job. And I will be there for my child. Unlike some people who shall remain nameless." He glared at his parents.

"You think that makes everything alright does it?" Richard Gilmore asked angrily. "You ruin my granddaughter's life, and come up with a solution. In theory, that's an excellent plan, but how will you put it into practice? Hmm? Who would hire a high school drop out, teen father?"

"I will. Tristan will work at my company until his family is on their feet, and then he can do what he chooses. Continue with us, or leave to find something else." Janlan Dugrey told the angry older man.

Emily and Sophia were still in shock. Neither of them had moved, or spoken in the entire time. But Emily had finished her drink and now stood up to pour another.

Sophia also stood, but did not go in the direction of the drinks cart. Instead she headed straight to the soon-to-be parents and gave them a hug.

"Mother, what the hell are you doing?" Anthony asked angrily as everyone recovered from a new shock.

"My grandson is going to be a father. I thought that he and the mother of his child deserved a hug, since all the four of you can argue about is money." She replied returning to her seat. This earned a chuckle from the older mister's Gilmore and Dugrey. Emily was hysterical at that point, so Lorelai attempted to take the drink from her.

It didn't work.

"Well, if you'll excuse us. We'll be going home now."

Anthony said standing. Caroline followed after one last glare. Before leaving the room, she spat another comment over her shoulder.

"This is all you fault Lorelai. You're supposed to be Lori's mother. Not her best friend. Where do you think she got the idea from?" With that she walked out of the house.

"Tristan?" Anthony asked from the door. "Aren't you coming home?"

"Well, sir, unlike you, I have manners. We were invited to dinner, so I'm staying. And I am not just going to walk out on the person I care most about in the world." He scoffed as he walked out the door, and slammed he heavy oak door.

Finally, once the people she disliked almost the most, were out of the room, Lori relaxed. She didn't need to cry this time, because she felt comfortable with the family around her.

After a few moments of silence, Kate entered the room and announced that dinner was ready.

As the group entered the dining room, Lori counted the places set at the table.

"There's only seven." She mumbled.

"Hmm?" Lorelai asked, not hearing her clearly.

"There are only seven places."

"Yeah, see, I told your mom that my parents wouldn't stay for dinner. I knew they would get pissed off and leave." Tristan told her and she smiled.

They all sat down and ate in silence. At the end of the meal, as everyone was leaving. Sophia hugged Lori again.

"Congratulations." She whispered. This caused Lori to cry.

"Thankyou." She replied to the one and only person o say that to her with love in her voice.

I know the mood changed quite a bit in there, I just wanted something light and happy – some normal (Ha!) Gilmore Girls banter. The rest is coming. Just give me some time. R&R Please.


	11. What's Wrong?

I've already been told that it's lazy to just skip ahead a couple of weeks or what ever, but I had to do this. Please don't hate me. Tell me if this is going ok.

Five reviews gets you a chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

CHAPTER 11

Two months later, Lori lay in her bed, eating spicy Indian food. It smelled really bad according to her mother, but, she loved it. She wasn't getting very big, but there was a small bump.

Tristan was supposed to be coming over in the afternoon. He had gone to visit his grandparents in New York for a few days and was coming back sometime today. They had talked to Lori every week since the disastrous dinner, and insisted on giving Tristan something for the baby. So there was no wayshe or Tristancould refuse.

Lori had been spending any hours she wasn't at school, in bed. She still did all of her homework, and her assignments for the Franklin, she just did them in a more comfortable position.

The strange thing about the Franklin was that, being best friends with the editor, she usually got some of the best stories. But lately, she'd been getting the less important ones. Articles that just didn't seem important.

And at lunch times, the girls hadn't been very talkative when Lori was with them. But when she would come back from the bathroom, they would be talking excitedly about parties and things. As soon as they saw Lori, they would shut up.

_Tristan tried to calm her down, saying it was just in her imagination. But she refused to listen._

_"I know that there's something going on. They are ashamed to be seen with me because I'm having a baby." She had told him as they drove home one afternoon._

_"No they're not. They are your best friends. And I remember you told me that when they found out you were pregnant, Madeline said they would be there to help you with everything."_

_"Yeah? Well that was before they realised what it would be like. Bathroom trips every five minutes. No more parties. No more drinking. Sure they can still have fun, they just don't want me to hear about it so I won't feel left out."_

_"Come on Lori. That's crazy."_

_"Have you ever left a room for ten minutes where your friends are completely silent, and then walked back in when they're talking a mile a minute. Only to have hem clam up the second they see you?"  
"No, but-"_

_"No. You haven't. Meaning you don't know what it's like. So don't lecture me on what's inside my head."_

_With that she had stormed out of the car and went straight to her room._

She and Tristan had made up. But none of her friends had tried to reassure her. Paris was giving her the stupidest articles to write, and Madeline and Louise didn't even call her anymore.

'_So this is it.'_ She realised. '_My friends don't want to be seen with me. I'll make it easy on them. I won't even try to make contact with them.' _

She then stopped going to Franklin meetings, and sat at an empty table at lunch. Sometimes Tristan would join her. Other times she told him to go away.

Lori had another doctores appointment early in her third month, and had to go alone. Lorelai had no way of getting out of the back to back meetings she had, and Tristan had already missed too much school. So she sat in the waiting room alone, waiting to be called in.

"Lori Hayden?"

Her name was called and she went straight in. She couldn't wait to see her baby on the ultrasound.

The doctor took some blood, and ran a few routine tests. But when he returned to the room, he looked confused and sad.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Lori asked terrified.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news." He told her.

he he clifhanger. Well sort of, anyway, keep reviewing please.


	12. Some Very Bad News

Bit of a cliff hanger there, but here it is. The next instalment.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

"What bad news? Is my baby going to be ok?" she asked, terror running through her.

"I'm afraid you won't be having a baby." The doctor replied, sympathetically.

"What? Did I have a miscarriage? Because I thought that they were supposed to be painful. Wouldn't I have known if my baby had died?" she was very confused.

"What I mean is that you were never pregnant." The doctor clarified for her.

"That's insane. Of course I was pregnant. I missed a period. I constantly need to go to the bathroom. I had morning sickness for weeks. I have cravings, and my stomach is getting bigger. You can't tell me that I was never pregnant."

"But you never were. I tested your blood a number of time, and its come up with the same result each time. You were experiencing what is known as a hallucinated pregnancy. When you came in for your first test, your blood work was mixed up with another young woman. With the news that we gave you, your body began to create the symptoms of a pregnancy. But it wasn't real. You have never been pregnant."

"Well, what about my period? I haven't had it in three months, doesn't that mean anything?"

"Let me ask you. The young man you believed to be the father of this child, was he your first sexual partner?"

"Yeah. So?"

"When young girls first become sexually active, their bodies can become confused. Sometimes they miss a period. At your age, your body is just working out a routine. Sometimes you can have your period every month, or you could have it every two months. It varies from girl to girl. But what I'm saying is, you weren't pregnant. It's just that after you missed a period, your body began to make things up to make you think you were."

"I can't believe this."

"I'm sorry Miss Hayden. Is there anyone here with you, who can drive you home?"

"No. I came alone."

"Well, can you call some one? You boyfriend, or your mother perhaps? I don't think you should be driving."

"I'll be fine. Excuse me. I have to go."

She ran out the door and dived into her car. Gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, she cried. She cried for her baby that never existed. She cried for her mother, and everything she had been put through. She cried for Tristan. She cried for her friends. And she cried for herself.

'_I can't go back to that life now. Not after I put them all through this for nothing. I need to et away._' She decided. Angrily wiping at her tears, Lori drove. She drove home and went straight to her room, pulling bags out of her closet, and filling them with all of the clothes that would fit.

She carried everything downstairs as quickly and quietly as she could so Kate wouldn't hear. And put everything into the backseat of her car. On top of the bags of clothes, were piles and piles of books. Lori couldn't go anywhere without her books.

And on the front passenger seat, there was a small soft blanket. It was blue and had satin trimming the edges. It was going to be a present for the baby, from its father. Because Tristan was certain it had been a boy. The blanket had belonged to him, and he wanted to pass it on.

She made sure she had everything she needed and then placed the note she had carefully written on the table in the hallway. Everyday when her mother came home Lorelai always checked the messages. So today, the first thing she would see, would be a note from her daughter.

With that, Lori took one last look a the house she grew up inand drove away from it. Never expecting to return.

What'd you think? Any good? Let me know. PLEASE R&R


	13. Rory Gilmore

Lori Hayden, had just driven her car from Hartford. It was filled with almost everything she owned. But as she exited her car, she carried just a few things.

Now she stood at the front door of an inn.

The Independence Inn, in Stars Hollow, was a beautiful place. She had been there a few times before. Once with both her parents, other times with just her mother. Most of the time, Christopher was too busy to go on holiday with his family.

The first time, it was just the girls. Lori was eleven. While she was in their room reading, Lorelai had gone out to see if they had any good coffee in town. She returned, boasting that she had found the best place ever.

Lori took a deep breathe and forced herself to go inside.

"Welcome to the Independence Inn, how may I help you?" the snotty Frenchman asked from behind the counter. Whenever they were there, Lorelai loved to tease the man. He got so angry so quickly. It was hilarious.

"Hi, I was wondering if Mia was here?" she said nervously fiddling with a piece of hair.

"She is in her office. I will go get her. Who may I ask is here to see her?"

"Um, Lo- just tell her Lorelai Hayden's daughter is here." He muttered something as he walked away from the desk, and Lori was able to concentrate on what she would say. And think about what she was going to do now that she was here.

Nothing was the way it was supposed to be. Being pregnant at sixteen wasn't exactly a life goal, but it was something Lori had dealt with. Then she was told that was all a lire. Now she had to figure out what she was going to do. Go back to school, or just work with half her education.

"Lori? Oh, sweet heart, you're mother didn't tell me you were coming!" Mia cried out as she crossed the lobby. Lori swallowed and slowly turned around. The older woman froze. She stared at the sixteen year-old, who's face was drenched in tears and then slowly moved to envelope her in a hug.

"Come with me, and I'll get you settled into a nice room. How does that sound?" Lori smiled weakly and nodded. "Ah, Michel, could I have the key to room twelve please?" Michel turned and searched through the keys hanging on the wall. "Derek? Could you take these bags to room twelve?"

"Sure thing Mia."

"Thank you. Come on Lori."

"Actually, Mia, its Rory now."

"Oh, alright. That sounds lovely.

"Mia, I need to ask a favour."

"What is it?"

"Don't tell my mom that I'm here. I ran away. No one in Hartford can understand me anymore. I've recently been going through some things, and I just couldn't stay there. I didn't tell anyone where I was gong, I just left."

"Well, alright. I won't tell her, but I want you to do something for me."

"You're going to say I have to tell her aren't you?"

"Well, yes. I am. Lori- I mean Rory, you're still young I think that you need your mother in your life. But when you contact your family is up to you."

"Ok. Thank you Mia."

By the then had reached room twelve, and Mia unlocked the door. Rory gasped at the sight in front of her. The room was beautiful. It had a four poster bed, a desk, a large window and a bookshelf running along one wall.

Derek entered the room behind them and placed Rory's things on the bed. "Do you have more bags rory?" Mia asked the young girl.

"Yes. They're in the blue BMW." She said, handing the key to the bel boy.

"No problem. Be right back."

"Thank you."

Mia then showed Rory around the room. She had a private bathroom, and in the cupboard across from the bed was a flat screen TV and a DVD player.

"Mia I don't know how to thank you. I mean, I just… I've felt so alone, and now you're being so kind, it finally feels as if someone really cares."

"Oh, Rory, of course people care. I'm sure that you're parents are worried sick about you right now. And you're friends, they'll be sorry they weren't more supportive of you once they realise that you're gone."

"You have met my father right? All he cares about these days is his pregnant girlfriend Sherry. And my friends won't give a damn that I'm gone."

"I'm sure that's not true." They shared a look and then Mia decided to give up on that for now. "Why don't you leave this to me and go and explore the town? I'll make sure all of your things are settled into the room before you get back."

"It's ok. I can wait until it's all done. I mean I'm sure you have work to do and-"

"Nonsense. This place practically runs itself"

"Well, ok. If you're sure."

"I am. Now go."

With that Rory Gilmore set out to explore the fairytale town of Stars Hollow.


	14. Find My Daughter!

Rory walked along the street and stopped at the door of a familiar place.

_Luke's Diner. _Lorelai was right; they did have the best coffee. A few years after their first trip, the two girls stopped in at the diner, and it was Rory's favourite trip, because she was allowed to drink the magical coffee.

The bell at the door jingled above her head and she was reminded of simple times.

Taking a seat at a corner table allowed her to watch the townspeople. Instead of having them stare at the back of her head. Luke wandered towards her, with an order pad and a coffee pot in his hands.

"Hey, coffee?" he asked. _She looks familiar, does she live here?_

"Yes thanks. Could I get a burger and fries, with that as well?"

"Sure. Anything else?" _Seriously, I'm sure I know her._

"No. That's it for now. Thanks."

"Ok, that'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Walking away, Luke realised, _People come here all the time, everyone looks familiar. This girl is no big deal._

"Luke, I'm going out." Jess Mariano, Luke's nephew told him, pulling a jacket on.

"Can you just give out a few orders first? I'm swamped back here."

"Sure."

Jess took the plates and with Luke's instructions, began distributing them to their tables. The last plate had a burger and fries on it. The table in the corner. The girl had long brown hair. She was hunched over a book.

"Here you go." He put the plate down and she looked up. He couldn't look away from her beautiful blue eyes.

"Thanks." She said, looking back to her book. He suddenly had to move.

When she finished eating, Rory left some money on the table and silently left the diner.

She returned to the inn to find everything in her room. There were bags in her bed, some hanging in the closet and all of her books were arranged on the bookshelves.

--------------------------

Lorelai returned home from a Chilton Boosters club meeting, expecting to hear about Rory's trip to the doctor But today there was nothing.

'_Maybe she's asleep.'_

She stopped at the answering machine and was about to press play when she saw the note. She tore it opening, a little confused.

_Mom,_

_I'm sorry. I don't know if you would be worried or relieved while reading this, but I had to leave. I will be fine. I've got somewhere in mind that I can go, so don't worry. I know I've disappointed you and for that I'm sorry._

_Love Lori._

When she reached Lori's room the door was open. Looking around confused, she realised that the room was empty. The bed had been stripped, the cupboards left open and empty. And every one of Lori's books were gone.

"Lori? Lori answer me now!" Nothing. The distraught woman rushed through the house.

"Lori answer me right this second! I swear to God this is so not funny." She tore through the house, searching for a sign that this was all just a horrible cruel joke.

There was nothing. By this time she had returned to the lounge room,and dropped on to the couch.

The phone sat in her hand, but she had no one to call.

Christopher would blame her. Her parents would say she was irresponsible. Lori's friends hadn't been over in months, and Tristan had very recently been shut out. She had very few friends her own age, just acquaintances. No one to call.

She suddenly had an idea.

"911. Emergency. Please state which service you need."

"Police. I need the police."

"Please hold. Connecting you now."

"Hartford police, how may we help you?"

"My daughter… My daughter is missing. I need to find her."

"Please, try and stay calm ma'am. I need some information. What is your daughter's name?"  
"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore-Hayden. But everyone calls her Lori."

"Alright. How old is she and when did she go missing?"

"Sixteen. I um, I just got home, and everything was gone from her room." Lorelai was really freaking out.

"I need you to find my daughter! She is a sixteen year old girl. She's pregnant and she's out there somewhere, all alone!"

"Alright. Calm down. I'll need you to give me your address so I can send out a car."

"Uh, it's fourteen – twenty-six Victoria terrace. Please hurry. I don't know what to do." She had tears streaming down her face and couldn't stop herself from sobbing.

"It's going to be ok. I'll send two officers out now to get more details off of you."

"Thank you."

Twenty minutes later, a patrol car stopped out the front of Lorelai's house. She rushed from the window to the door, to let them in.

"Mrs. Gilmore-Hayden?" a woman in uniform asked.

"Yes. Ah, Mrs. Hayden."

"Right. We'll need to ask you a few questions. And inspect your daughters room."

"Sure, um. The living room is just through here." She lead them through to the next room.

"Ok. So what we need is a description of your daughter."

"And you may not want to consider this, but there may be a possibility that someone has forced your daughter to leave."

"What? But why would someone do that?"

"Well there could be a number of reasons. Someone who was unhappy about the pregnancy for example." Lorelai shook her head. Not even considering.

"I'll show you to her room." They walked up the stairs and looked through Lori' rom in silence, then returned to the living room.

When they reached the room, Lorelai gathered up some photo albums.

There were pictures of Lori at Hartford social events. At parties with her friends. And some random ones at home.

She handed them over and the officers studied them.

"Ok. Good. Now the last time you spoke to your daughter. How was she?"

"She was fine. She had a doctor's appointment. Just a check up for the baby. But she always comes straight home after. Then when I got home, all of her stuff was gone, and I found this note."

She handed the note over and the officers read it.

"Alright we'll put out a search for her, but there's no sign of a struggle. It looks as if she left on her own accord. If nothing comes up then we're going to have to assume she doesn't want to be found."

"What? Are you insane? Is it money? Because I can pay you anything. I just need you to find my daughter."

"We'll do our best ma'am." They stood up. "We'll be in touch." And they were gone.

Ok, so I know that was probably really bad, but I've never been in that situation. I've never really had any reason to even speak to the police, let alone been involved in a runaway situation. So please don't kill me for that scene.

Please read and review NICELY


	15. What Brings You To Stars Hollow?

A/N: I would have updated earlier today, but my BEST FRIEND is going to Japan for ten months on Thurday. I spent last night at her place and only just got home, so it's the right day, just a little later than i would have liked. Enjoy

"So, Rory, what brings you to Stars Hollow?" Mia asked. She had arrived three days ago, and Mia was anxious to find out what was going on. She had to restrain herself from calling Lorelai many times throughout the nights, but eventually she won.

"I don't know if I can talk about it yet." The young girl replied.

"Well, whenever you're ready." She wanted to know but she wouldn't push.

"But, I think I could try." She said. She sounded desperate. Like there was something she wanted to say, but she was afraid to say it. To make it real.

"I , um… I have this boyfriend back home." Immediately Mia's mind filled with scenario's, she scanned Rory's body for cuts and bruises, finding none, she forced herself to calm down and listen. "He and I were ah, we were having sex. And I missed a period. I started to get sick and so my mom took me to the doctor."

Mia thought she knew exactly where this story was headed. Soon there would be a baby crawling around the Independence Inn.

"I found out that I was pregnant. I was so terrified. Like, I had no idea what to do. After a couple of days, I told Tristan, and then I told my dad. Mom organised a dinner, so Tristan and I could break it to his parents, and our grandparents at the same time. The other day, I went for a check up. I couldn't wait to see my baby. But the doctor told me that I…" she couldn't go on. Her eyes were full and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop the tears. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to.

Mia thought for a moment. _A miscarriage? No,_ that just seemed too simple. "You were never pregnant were you?"

Rory looked up. _How did she know that?_

"It happened to me. Before I had my son, I thought that I was pregnant, but I wasn't I was so excited, and when I found out the truth it was a horrible feeling."

Rory nodded. "I just didn't know what to do. I couldn't stay there anymore. There were too many reminders."

"I understand honey." Mia held Rory. She knew that Rory would prefer to be with her mother at this time, but Lorelai wasn't there, so she had to step in.

After half an hour, she decided that she was ready.

"I have to make a phone call." She whispered. Mia nodded, understanding.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me."

"Thank you Mia. For everything."

She picked up the phone beside her bed, and dialled the first number she had ever memorised. It was answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" Lorelai's voice sounded frantic. Rory felt the tears in her eyes again.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" She couldn't help it, she sobbed. "Lori? Is that you?"

"Mommy." She whispered.

"Oh, Lori. Baby, where are you? Are you ok? What's happened?"

"I'm so sorry mom. I just had to get away."

"Its ok sweetie. Are you all right?"

"I'm safe."

"No, Lori. Safe is in your home, in your room. I can see your room and you're not in it. What about the baby? Is he ok?" the whole family was convinced it was a boy. Rory had every intention of telling her mother that there was no baby, but the words just wouldn't come.

"The baby's as healthy as he ever was." She replied. And in a way that was the truth.

"Well, are you coming home? Lori I called the police I have people searching for you. I just want you to be here, with your family."

"I can't right now mom. I just wanted to let you know I was ok. I'm sorry I scared you. I have to go." She hung up and both of them lay down and cried.

What'd u think? Let me know.


	16. I Know Where I Have To Go

**A/N: So I was asked about the pregnancy. Whether you can really hallucinate it or not. Truthfully I don't know. I guess I could have made it up, but I'm sure I got it from somewhere. And Lori will eventually tell Lorelai everything, but they've got to find her first.**

**A/N2: I was asked to be a beta for someone, but I really don't have time. I just got a job (I starrt Tuesday), and between that, my stories, and keeping our house clean, I don't think I could manage it. So if anyone's interested, let me know. Thanks. Enjoy.**

**P.S. The story is called, It's October Again - it's a TRORY by smarterthancrewe08**

The police were doing everything they could. But it had been a week since Lori disappeared, and Lorelai was frantic. She told the police as soon as Lori called, and they decided to put a tracking device on the phone, just in case she called again. By this time everyone knew. Her parents were hiring P.I's Christopher was furious that he wasn't told sooner, Paris, Madeline and Louise spent most of their free time at the house, comforting Lorelai and each other. And Tristan tried to force the police to let him help.

He had called the same day as Lori wondering why he had been contacted by the police.

"Lorelai, what's going on? Why did the cops call me and ask if I knew where Lori is? I thought she was at home with you."

"Oh, Tris I wish she was. She ran away, or she was kidnapped... I have no idea. But the thing is she's missing, she's not here… I have no idea where she could have gone. And that's terrifying me."

"What? Are you kidding me? When did this happen?"

"Three days ago. She didn't come home after her appointment. She called this morning, but she didn't tell me where she was."

"I'm coming over right now. Can you get the police there? I need to talk to them."

"Do you know something? Tell me, please, I can't live like this."

"I just need to hear from them what's going on. I'll be there in ten minutes."

He hung up and ran out of his house, to his car.

He arrived before the police, and the sight of Lorelai broke his heart. He and Rory were having problems, but he still loved her and her mom was one of the most supportive people in their lives at that moment.

She looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks, and she was thin, and pale.

When the police finally got there, Tristan demanded an explanation of what had happened, and what they were doing about it.

They told him everything thing. When they were done, he looked up and said,

"I want in."

"What?"

"I want to be a part of the search. I need to know she's ok, and I can't just sit around. I want to join you."

"I'm sorry son, but we can't let you do that." The male officer said calmly.

"Why not? I'll pay you. I'll give you anything you want. All I ask in return is that you allow me to help. Please, I need to do this."

"Tristan, right?" the woman asked, he nodded. "You're a kid. We can't let you join any cases unless you're of a legal age with the required training. And even if we could, I don't think that we would. You're judgement is clouded right now. And you would probably be in the way."

"No I swear I wouldn't. I just need to do something. I love her." He was practically begging by then.

"I'm sorry. But it's out of the question." They stood up.

"If you have any information please give us a call." They handed over business cards and walked to the door.

"Thank you for coming." Lorelai told them as they left.

"I can't believe this. Why can't they let me do anything?"

"Tristan, they still have no idea what happened to Lori, so they don't know weather or not you would be in any danger. They just want to keep you safe."

"Well I don't want to be safe. I'm doing it."

"You're doing what?" she knew what he meant, but she hoped she was wrong.

"I'm starting my own search and I'm going to find Lori myself."

He stood and walked out of the house without another word.

In his bedroom he wrote down everything the police had told him they knew so far. Then he stared at all of the information in front of him.

_She went missing after her last appointment. _

_Has anyone spoken to the doctor?_ He wondered.

Walking back out to his car he drove to the clinic he'd been to only once.

When he asked to see Lori's doctor he was told to wait. Finally he was allowed in to see him.

"Hello young man. What can I do for you?" he asked a little confused, boys didn't usually come here alone.

"My name is Tristan Dugrey and my girlfriend Lori Hayden was here three days ago for a check up. She never came home after her appointment and I was wondering if we could talk about that. Do you have any idea at all, why she disappeared?"

"Lori… Lori Hayden… Ah, yes. I remember her. Such a nice girl. What a shame."

"What? What's a shame?"

"About her pregnancy. She ah, she wasn't actually pregnant you see. Her test was mixed up with another young woman's. But after being told that she was pregnant, Lori began to experience the symptoms. It was all in her head. She hallucinated her pregnancy."

Tristan could barely breathe. _She wasn't pregnant? I'm not going to be a father? This can't be true. He's making it up._

"Are you sure? I mean, is it possible that you mixed up the tests again?"

"I ran her test a number of times the last time she was here. I got the same result each time. I'm sorry mister Dugey."

"O… ok. So did she mention where she was going?" he tried to concentrate but he was still in shock.

"I assumed she was going home. I asked if she had anyone here, or anyone she could call, but she said she was fine. I really should have checked up on her, but I thought she would be alright."

Tristan took a breath. "Thank you for your help. I have to go."

He left and sat in his car. _No baby. Hallucinated. Not pregnant._ The words flew around his head and made him crazy. He couldn't handle this, and that made him worry so much more about Lori. She had believed there was a life growing inside of her. But that wasn't true. What could she have done after getting that devastating news?

_**FLASHBACK**_

_**It was their two month anniversary. He took her out to dinner, and they had a great time. They had practically grown up together, which meant that as kids, they played at all the same places. That night they had stopped by their favourite playground and lay on their backs watching the stars.**_

_**"Tristan?"**_

_**"Hmm?"**_

_**"Where's your favourite place in the whole world?" she asked propping her self up on her elbows so she could see him.**_

_**"Your bed." He said with a smirk. She slapped him.**_

_**"I'm serious."**_

_**"So was I." At her glare, he smiled. "Ok, no. My favourite place?" she nodded. "Well, that would probably be… Right here. I always come out here when I need to think about something, when I need to get away from my parents. Or I just want to be alone. What about you?"**_

_**She smiled. "Stars Hollow." He thought for a second.**_

_**"That weird little town you and your mom go to?"**_

_**"Yeah. But it's not weird. It's beautiful. Everyone's so close and they have town meetings, and festivals and everything. It's amazing. I wish you could come with us. I think you would love it."**_

_**"If you love it, I love it." He leaned forward and kissed her. When they separated, he looked deep into her eyes and said. "I love you Lori."**_

_**Her eyes widened and for a fraction of a second she looked panicked, but then she relaxed and smiled. "I love you too." She kissed him and they rolled in the grass, and kissed and kissed and kissed, until the sky bucketed rain on them. They ran to his car, completely drenched. And snuck up to his room.**_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

_I know where I have to go_. Tristan thought. The two words planted themselves firmly in his mind, and he drove. He just kept going until he reached the place where Lori was.

**A/N 3: Ok, sorry about this, but I remembered about the halucinated pregnancy. It was Melrose Place. I'm an addict, I admit it (Reruns on Arena, this is my second time watching it.) I'm not sure which season, but Brooke thought she was pregnant, when she found out she wasn't she didn't tell anyone. Billy - her husband -found out when he went to get something from the hospital and he was sooooo pissed. I didn't make it up. YAY I'm not crazy (This week...)**


	17. Reunions

Rory had just walked in the front door of the Independence Inn and was about to go up to her room when someone called out.

"Lori?"

She froze. She hadn't expected to hear that voice. '_How am I going to tell him?_' she wondered. The reason she'd left home was so she wouldn't have to tell everyone she loved that she screwed up their plans for nothing. Now HE was here.

"Lori, is that you?" he called again. She wanted to move. Run, turn around, anything, but her entire body was frozen to the spot. She could here his footsteps as he walked towards her. And she took a deep breathe to prepare herself for what was coming.

He reached out with strong hands and turned her to face him.

"Lori, what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me?" Tristan asked quietly. She had tears in her eyes, and they made it seem as if he did too. She realised that he **was** about to cry and in that second, she knew that he knew.

"I didn't know how. It was too much to deal with so I just ran. I'm so sorry." She whispered, but he heard every word clearly. Pulling her into a hug, he breathed in the scent of her hair. They held each other and cried in the lobby, neither of them caring that within twenty minutes the entire town would know what they were doing.

Eventually Mia arrived in the room, and guided them up the stairs to Rory's room. She left them there, knowing they need time to talk.

"Tristan, I'm sorry." Rory spoke quietly after another ten minutes of silence.

"It's not your fault. None of this is anyone's fault." He told her. He meant it too. He was just so happy he knew she was safe.

"I can't go back there." She told him. He understood. There were just too many painful reminders.

"I know. And that's ok. If you want, we can stay here." He would have been happy to stay on an Arctic continent if that was what she had wanted. This was the woman he loved and he was never going to let her go through any pain alone ever again.

"Really? You would stay here with me?"

"Of course I would. But there's something you have to do first."

"I already called mom this morning." She told him.

"I know. But she needs to know where you are. You should see her. She looks look's hell."

"God. I never meant to hurt her. I didn't think of how this would effect anyone. I was just thinking about me." She felt like such a selfish person.

"That's understandable. Considering what you went through. But Lori, she needs to know."

"Tristan, don't call me that." He looked at her confused. "My name, it's not Lori anymore. That was the old me. I'm Rory now."

"Ok. Rory. I like it." He replied with a smile. She snuggled into him. Realising how much she had missed being near him, caused her to cry again.

"Baby what's wrong?" he asked, wiping at her tears.

"I just missed you."

"It's ok. We're never going to be apart again." He promised.

She nodded, and with a smile picked up the phone. Dialling the number of what used to be her home, she waited for her mother to answer.

"Hello?" Lorelai sounded even more anxious than she had that morning.

"Mom, it's me." Rory replied.

"Oh, thank God. Please, tell me where you are." She begged.

"I'm in Stars Hollow. I'm so sorry for everything. But Tristan's with me. I'm ok. And everything's going to be fine." She told her mother, hoping she would agree.

"You're at the inn aren't you?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because. Whenever we plan to go there, you get so exited about the idea of being at the inn. And I know how much you love seeing Mia."

Rory nodded. "I have a room here. But mom?"

"Yes baby?"

"I can't come back."

"Why not?"

"I can't explain that over the phone. Can you come here?" Rory felt like a little girl asking her mommy for help.

"I'll be there in forty minutes." Lorelai replied.

"Thank you mom. I love you."

"I love you too kiddo." They hung up and Lorelai made the quickest phone call she'd ever made in her life.

"Hartford Police. How may I help you?"

"Um, my name is Lorelai Gilmore Hayden-"

"Ah, yes, Mrs Hayden. Is there a problem?"

"No. Actually, I'm calling off the search for my daughter. I know where she is. Thank you for everything you've done and I'll make sure the bill is settled by the end of the week."

She hung up and ran straight to her car, driving as fast as she could to the fairy tale town of Stars Hollow.

Bursting through the front door of the inn, she ran to the front desk.

"Michel, what room is Lori in?" she demanded. The French man stared at her.

"I'm sorry but I can not give out personal information about our guests." He replied. She reached across the desk and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Michel, I'm warning you-"

"Mom." Lorelai turned at the sound of her daughter's voice. She ran across the room and pulled her into the tightest hug ever.

"Oh! My baby. How are you?" she asked. Then she suddenly let go. "I'm sorry, I forgot for a minute." They both looked at the girl's stomach. And then Rory slowly looked up at her mother.

"Come with me." Taking Lorelai's hand, she led her up to the room she was now sharing with Tristan.

"What's going on?" Lorelai asked as the two teens looked at her solemnly.

"Lorelai we have some sad news." Tristan replied.

"What? Has something happened to the baby? You said he was fine this morning."

"Mom, sit down." Rory ordered gently. Her mother followed the instruction. "I am so sorry to have done this to you. B-but the truth is…" she couldn't do it. She couldn't say those words to her mother. Seeing this Tristan squeezed her hand and stepped in.

"The truth is Lorelai, that there… there never was a baby."

Tears sprang into the woman's eyes as a mixture of emotions filled her. Shock, relief, anger, sadness.

"But… how?"

"There was a mix up at the clinic. Rory hallucinated the pregnancy." Tristan recited what the doctor had told him.

Lorelai looked confused. First at the name 'Rory' and then the hallucinated part. She then realised who he was talking about.

"That's impossible. You can't hallucinate a pregnancy."

"Yes you can mom. I did. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this."

"Oh, sweetie, none of that matters. I'm sorry you had to deal with this alone. If I had been there that day, none of this would have happened."

Rory nodded. "It would have. I still would have found a way to get out of there. I just couldn't stay. All the baby things around the house were just too much."

By the end of her little speech, the two women had pulled each other into a tight embrace. Tristan sat watching them, and thinking of how life would be now.

A/N: I am such a sappy person. Everything has to be tiiied up with a neat little bow, I know, it annoys me too. Anyway, let me know what you think, please R&R. 5 reviews chapter 18


	18. Backwards Baseball Cap Man and Crazy

**A/N: Have any of you read my other fics? Coz, I'm doing a One Tree Hill/ Gilmore Girls crossover and I need help. I have to break up Brooke and Lucas using Jake, at least that's what I want to do anyway, but i don't know how. If you can help, let me know. I only got two reviews. Thanks to KarahBellasnd Princetongirl. anyone else that's reading, please let me know what you think.**

Hours later, after all the tears and hugs, after hundred's of "I'm sorry's" and "It's ok's" the three of them realised how hungry they all were.

So together they headed out into the town.

"Oh! Luke's I haven't been here in forever!" Lorelai exclaimed as they walked down the street.

"Is that the place with the greatest coffee on earth?" Tristan asked.

"Yes!" The Gilmore girls replied. (They had decided that as soon as the divorce had gone through, they would both have their names changed to Lorelai's maiden name.)

"Cool."

"Yeah, mom, I think it got even better since we were here last."

"Really? Is that possible?" Lorelai asked, a little sceptically.

"I think so." Rory replied.

They walked through the door and immediately Lorelai called out.

"Hey you! Backwards baseball cap man I need coffee!"

Luke was standing behind the counter, trying desperately to get Kirk to make a discission about what he wanted to eat when a familiar voice from his memory called out to him.

His head snapped up, and there she was.

It was the horoscope woman. The one who wouldn't leave him alone until he told her when his birthday was.

_He had been busy, working in the diner, it was lunch time and the place was packed. Out of nowhere, this woman came tearing through the door,_

"_Hey! Excuse me, do you work here?" she asked while he was taking another customer's order. _

"_You, backwards baseball cap man. I need coffee. NOW!" she told him as he walked away. She followed him, continuing to talk, like a Chihuahua yapping at his heels._

"_Look, in case you haven't noticed, you are in the middle of a very busy diner. MY very busy diner. I have a business to run here, so sit down, shut up, and I'll get to you when I get to you." _

_With that he went into the kitchen, expecting her to listen. _

_Not a chance. _

_He came out, and she started all over again._

"_Hey, when's your birthday?" he ignored her, but she continued to ask._

"_Burger boy. I asked you a question. When's your birthday?" he finally told her and she quietly sat at the only vacant seat at the counter. _

'_Good, I can finally get some work done.' He thought. Until she waved a piece of paper in his face._

"_What the hell is that?" he asked._

"_Read it." She instructed letting him take the paper._

_It was a section of the newspaper. The horoscopes. Scorpio had circled but all the print was crossed out. Over the top in neat writing it read, "You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she will go away."_

_He had given her the coffee and she told him to keep the paper in his wallet for good luck._

_She did go away. For about a year, then she came back every few months. Always demanding attention and coffee._

_For some reason he had kept the horoscope in his wallet. Every time he went to pay for something he considered throwing it away. But couldn't bring himself to do it._

_Even when his girlfriend Rachel was in town, he couldn't stop thinking about the caffeine addicted woman._

And here she was again.

"Mom, don't be so rude. He might not serve us." Rory warned.

"Nonsense. Of course he will. No one can resist our charm." Lorelai replied, wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulders.

They sat at an empty table and Luke slowly made his way towards them.

"What can I get for you?" he asked.

"Umm, coffee. And then coffee thanks Duke." Lorelai told him.

"Sorry Luke. What she means is a burger with the lot and a coffee. I'll have the same. Tristan?" she turned to her boyfriend who was studying the menu.

"Uh, yeah, that sounds good, but instead of the fries could I have a salad?" he asked. Lorelai and Rory glared at him, completely disgusted.

"Sure, coming right up." Luke walked away leaving the poor defenceless young man with two angry junk food addicts.

"What the hell was that?" Lorelai asked him.

"I'm sorry, but I happen to like my arteries the way they are thank you very much. Unclogged." He added with a smirk.

"Are you saying that we're unhealthy?" Rory asked.

"I think that I might be hinting at it." He replied as the two woman continued to glare.

"I'm sorry but we can't see each other anymore. You're going to have to leave." Rory told him looking away. He stood and got to the door before Rory cried out dramatically, "Oh Tristan my love, please don't leave me!" she had jumped out of her seat, causing it to topple over.

Every single person in the diner stared at the young couple. Tristan stood frozen by the door and they all waited for his reaction. Lorelai and Rory were biting their lips to keep from laughing as he slowly exhaled turned around and swept Rory up in his arms.

Everybody clapped and the three of them burst out laughing.

Everything was going back to the way it used to be. They were all going to be ok.

**Well that was fun. Did you like it? 5 reviews chapter 19.**


	19. Just Shut Up And Imagine With Me

"You guys! You guys where are you? I found it!" Lorelai screamed after she burst into Rory and Tristan's room.

"Geez, Lorelai what's going on?" Tristan asked. He was sitting right up, having been woken by a crazy woman.

"I found the house! Where's Le Rory?" She was still adjusting to the name Rory, so she occasionally made it sound as if she were French.

"She went for a walk. What house? What are you talking about?"

"Well, I decided that since none of us want to go back to Hartford, we should have somewhere to live.And while I was down at the real estate agents, this place became available."

She handed him a piece of paper and he frowned.

"Hey, Tristan, do you think-" Rory stoped mid-sentence when she saw her mom. "Hey mom, what's going on?"

"I wanted to show you the house." Lorelai replied snatching it from Tristan.

"There's a house? Who's house?"

"Ours. I think that we should have a house." Lorelai explained.

"Ok, well, let me see." She wouldn't object. She never wanted to return to her previous home.

"Ah, mom, this place is gross." Rory told her.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's lime green. No house should ever be lime green, yet, here it is."

"We can paint over that. But other than that it's pretty, don't you think?"

"Well, I guess so. What do you think Tristan?"

"It's nice."

"Nice? I have been searching for the perfect house and all you can say is nice?"

"I'm sorry. Have you seen the inside?"

"Not yet. I wanted you guys to come with me."

"Well let's go."

They got up and ready and then left to see their possible new home.

"Well, it's prettier in person. But that colour is still wrong on so many levels." Rory said as she, Lorelai and Tristan stood out the front of the house Lorelai loved.

"Come on. Let's go inside." Lorelai said, jumping up and down.

"Don't we have to wait for a realtor or something?" Tristan asked.

"There he is." Lorelai replied, pointing to a man in a suit stepping out of his car. "he's here, so let's go in."

She ran to the front door, but it was locked. "Oh, man."

"Allow me." The young man said, stepping up beside her with a key.

The four of them walked in and looked around.

"We could put a tv, and couch there." Lorelai commented, looking around. "The little table for the phone and answering machine will go here…" she continued to point things out as Rory and Tristan escaped to another room.

"This could be our room." Rory told him once the door was closed.

"What makes you think your mom's going to let me live here?"

"She said, 'none of want to go back to Hartford, we should have a house.' Not just her and me, all three of us."

"Well, I'm all for it. But she may not have realised what she said. She was pretty excited."

"Just shut up and imagine with me, would you?"

Rory pulled him onto the floor.

"Our bed can go against that wall, we can have a desk in that corner-"

"But you'll need to buy a second wardrobe. Because a lady does not compromise space for her shoes – even if she's in love." Lorelai said from the door.

"So, you really want this place?" Tristan asked, pulling himself and Rory from the floor.

"Are you kidding? I basically have my own floor. I'd love that. Although, you two would have to share a bathroom. Think you can handle it?"

Rory smiled. "I think we'd do alright."

"That means I can stay? Are you serious?"

"Of course. I know how much you love Rory, and how much you don't want to be at your parents place anymore. As much faith I have in you being able to support yourself, I'd much rather have Rory here, all the time."

"Thankyou so, so much Lorelai." He pulled her into a quick hug and she laughed.

"Yeah thanks mom. Now let's look at your floor." Rory lead the way out of the room and up the stairs.

"Actually, you know what?" Tristan said as they stood in the master – or in Lorelai's words, the mistress – bedroom. "Since this room is so big, and Rory and I are going to be sharing, I think we should be up here."

"No way in hell, are you taking my floor from me." Lorelai replied menacingly.

"Ok, ok. Just thought I'd try it" he surrendered.

"Future tip: never try and take anything from Lorelai Hay- Gilmore." Rory advised. For a moment, she almost forgot about the fact that in the last two days, her parents divorce had been finalised and their names were changed.

Finishing the tour of the house, they returned to the front porch, where the real estate agent stood talking on the phone.

"No… No, the DSL line was ordered for next week so, we aren't going out there until next week…. Ok… Yes…Yeah I'll see you then."

He hung up.

"Sorry about that."

"How many jobs do you have… Kirk?" Lorelai asked, trying to read his name badge.

"About twenty-three. I do a lot around here."

"Uh huh. Well, we've decided that we want the house."

"Really? Oh that's great. This is my first sale."

"How long have you worked in real estate?" Tristan asked.

"Three years."

"Oookay."

"Right. So, do we come down to the office, or can you bring the papers to us? How will this work?" Lorelai had only ever been involved in the buying of one house, but Christopher took care of most of that.

"Normally it would take about a week, but I can have the papers ready and brought to you in two days. Where can I reach you by the way?" Kirk asked, pulling a pen out from behind his ear.

"We're staying at the Independence Inn. Just give them to Michel and tell him they're for us. Once Mia finds them in the trash, we'll sign 'em and have them back to you."

"Great. Ok, well it was a pleasure doing business with you."

"Yeah you too."

Kirk locked the door, and returned to his car.

"Oh my God, he is possibly the strangest man in the world."

"Oh I don't know mom. I think he liked you."

"No. You are an evil, evil child. Never speak of that again." Lorelai scolded, making her way back to her car. The two teens laughed and followed her.

**Did you like it? Please review.**


	20. Moving Day

Chapter 20

Within a week, all the paper work was filled out handed in and they were moving in. Lorelai returned to Hartford to supervise the move from that end, while Tristan and Rory were in charge of the other.

Most things from Rory's room had already made their way to Stars Hollow. All that was left was her bed, desk and chest of drawers. But she and Tristan were planning on buying all new things for their room.

Lorelai couldn't bring herself to throw out all of the baby things, so she simply packed them in boxes marked "ATTIC"

Christopher had already removed his things from the house, and was fine with them selling.

Tristan's parents were not so happy. When he told them he was moving out, they tried to stop him, but his mind was made up. He packed what he wanted, and left the rest.

"I can't believe we're going to be living together." Rory said as they lay on their backs on the floor of their room, awaiting the moving vans.

"I can't wait." Tristan replied. He rolled onto his side and kissed her. Gradually his hands began to move towards the hem of her shirt and she pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I can't."

He nodded. "It's ok. I understand." The loss of a baby, even one that didn't really exist, was going to cause a few problems. He had prepared himself for this reaction.

"I'm sorry Tristan I just need a little time."

"It's ok Rory. I love you. I can wait."

"It won't be long. I promise. I just have to get some things through my head."

He nodded. They heard a truck stop out the front of the house and silently walked out to supervise the movers.

Four hours later Rory walked into the kitchen carrying bags of food from Luke's.

"Plates, plates… do we have any plates yet?" she looked over the boxes in the room, and decided to just take the food out the way it was.

"Hey, guys, lunch is here." She called walking out onto the porch. The hired movers and Tristan, who had decided to help moved up to the porch and collected their food.

"So this is going pretty well huh?" Tristan asked, slipping an arm around Rory's wait.

"Yeah. Who would have thought we would be supervising movers at a house we were going to live in together? Its fun isn't it."

"Definitely."

"Hey, you know you look really sexy when you're all sweaty."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm." She kissed him and then took a big bite out of the burger in his hand.

"Oh that's just wrong." he cried out as she chewed and swallowed.

"Deal with it honey." Lorelai told him climbing the front steps.

"Hey mom. What are you doing here?"

"The house is empty. I just sent the last truck off. They should be here any minute." She reached over and grabbed a handful of Rory's fries.

"So how's everything going on this end?"

"It's going fine. The kitchen is full of boxes, and I guess the guys are almost done." Rory replied after glaring at her fries disappearing into her mother's mouth.

"Cool. That means I can go to sleep soon." Lorelai sat on the porch swing and closed her eyes. She sat still for a minute, before lifting her head and sniffing the air.

"You got coffee from Luke's."

"Of course. Would I ever go there and not get coffee? Crazy thought." Lorelai grinned and snatched up a cup.

"Ahhh, that's what I've been craving all day long." She muttered after swallowing half the cup.

"You mean that's your first cup?" Tristan asked. "I feel very sorry for the movers now."

"Shut up boy." Lorelai told him. She finished the rest of the cup, everyone finished their lunch and the men returned to their work while Rory and Lorelai sat back and 'supervised'.


	21. Settleing In

"I've changed my mind. I think we should just live out of the boxes. Don't bother unpacking." Lorelai said as she tried to unpack a box in the kitchen.

"Mom, we can't do that. We need to finish." Rory told her unwrapping a set of dinner plates.

"But it's too hard."

"Would you like some cheese with that whine?" Tristan asked coming in from outside. He was checking the outside light bulbs, cleaning out the rain gutters, and making sure the porch rail was secure.

"Ok, that was creepy. You sounded so much like my father." Lorelai said with a scowl.

"Well I did grow up around the man."

"Oh yeah. Are we ever going to get rid of you?"

"Not likely." He walked over to Rory and kissed her.

"Can I keep him for a bit longer?" she sounded as if she was asking if she could keep a stray puppy.

"Alright but he's your responsibility."

"I can deal with that." Rory smiled. Lorelai stood up to pour a coffee, but Tristan blocked her path.

"We still have work to do." He told her.

"It's alright for you. You get to work outside in the sun." she pouted.

"I'll swap with you if that's what you want."

"I'm not sticking my hand in those gutters!"

"Then get back to the boxes."

"Meanie!" she sat down and continued to unpack. Rory just laughed as Tristan headed back outside.

By lunch time the kitchen was done and they had moved onto the living room. Lorelai was having fun unwrapping her figurines and picture frames.

"Oh Rory, look at this." She held up a picture of her daughter at the age of two. "You were so cute. What happened?"

"I grew up."

"And she became beautiful, gorgeous, stunning… I could go on, but I won't." Tristan returned from his work sweaty and slightly tanned.

"I wish you wouldn't do that." Lorelai complained.

"What did I do?" he asked innocently.

"You always sneak in the room and start talking. Like you're out there listening." Tristan didn't say a word, he just looked at her. "You were! Sneaky creature. That's it, if he gets to listen to us talk, the I'm going out to lunch." She stood up and grabbed her purse.

"I'm coming too!" Rory jumped up and followed her out the door.

Tristan just laughed and locked the door before following.

He reached the diner after the girls had found a table. Luke was taking their order just as Tristan came in and sat down.

"So how's the move going?" he asked. Everyone knew that Stars Hollow was getting a few more residents.

"It's ok, but there's this slave driver at the house that never lets me do anything fun." Lorelai replied glaring at Tristan.

"Well, good luck with that,"

"What are you doing here?" Lorelai demanded as Luke walked away.

"Getting something to eat. See, the people I live with totally suck with grocery shopping. We don't have any food in the house.

Rory sat back and listened to the banter between the two people she loved most in the world.

'I'm so glad they have a good relationship.' She thought as they continued to 'argue'.

**Any thoughts? Let me know.**


	22. Catching Up On Old News

Hey, enjoy the next chapter. Review please and let me know what you think it's not much, but i thought it would be fun just to throw this little bit in.

"Did you hear? Lori Hayden and Tristan Dugrey are having a baby."

"What?" The Chilton rumour mill was busy.

"Are you serious?"

"Where have you been? That's old news." Everyone was catching up.

"Yeah. It's all a joke. They were never pregnant."

"She was trying to trap him. Just like her mother did." Summer Van De Camp said, attempting to bring some attention to herself. The three people that turned to her were not happy.

"What did you just say?" Paris asked glaring.

"You heard me."

"Take that back bitch." Louise told her, stepping closer with Madeline and Paris right beside her.

"No, I won't." she smiled and turned. But they weren't going to let it go.

"Lorelai didn't trap Chris. And Rory didn't trap Tristan. They have a lot of similarities. But that is one thing neither of them would ever do."

"Who the hell's Rory?" Summer asked.

"God Summer, you really are as stupid as you look. It's Lori. She changed her name."

"Rory and Tristan love each other. If you can't deal with that, get lost." The three friends walked away leaving a stunned Summer.

It was common knowledge that Lorelai Gilmore and April Van De Camp were enemies when they attended school together. And April had decided to push her feelings onto her daughter. Lorelai had attempted to stop the fighting, but April wouldn't allow it. She hated Lorelai, having had a crush on Christopher many years ago.

So she continued to do so, even though they were grown woman, and both attended many of the same clubs, within the school and social circles. It made life interesting. A lot of people would watch for their reactions to certain comments. And even though Lorelai didn't want to fight anymore, she still allowed herself to have some fun at April's expense.

They would be enemies for life, just as it appeared their daughter's would be.

I'm sorry i know its short but i wanted to give you something. next time will be better.


	23. Conveniently Located Martress DropOff

Rory and Tristan's room was finally coming together. They'd lived in the house two weeks and were still trying to organise their things. Now they had a desk a wardrobe and a bed frame. They were using the matress from Rory's old room, until they could find a new one.

After many lengthy discussions about matresses and how they had to be firm, but not too firm, Lorelai was satisfied with their choice.

"I still don't understand why you needed to like the matress we will be sleeping on." Tristan said as they walked out of the store, back to the car.

"Do you remember nothing?" she asked. "Every year on my daughters birthday, I climb into bed with her and retell the story of her birth."

"Not this year." He told her.

"What ever do you mean?"

"Well, this year I'm going to be in the bed and that might be a little weird."

"Nonsense. You can just lie there and listen to the story."

"Lorelai I've heard the story."

"So have Madeline, Louise and Paris." Rory added. She loved it when they did this, they always acted as if they didn't really like each other, but if you really paid attention, you could tell they loved having the other person around.

"It doesn't matter. The story is wonderful. And if you're in love with one of the stars, then you should want to listen to it repeatedly." Lorelai told the boy, leaving no room for an argument.

"Fine." They arrived back at the house and Tristan removed the mattress from the car, carried it inside and put it against a wall in their room. Next he took the old one out and put it on the porch.

"What are we doing with that?" he asked the girls as they made coffee.

"We'll dump it somewhere." Lorelai replied.

"Where?" Tristan continued.

"I don't know. We'll find somewhere."

"Like the conveniently located mattress drop off place? We should have talked about it earlier."

"It doesn't matter. We can figure it out tomorrow."

"Why don't I take it to the dump?" Rory asked.

"You want to go to the dump?" Lorelai asked. "This is clearly not my daughter."

"Well, if it'll stop the two of you from arguing, then yes." She replied.

"I'll come with you." Tristan picked up his jacket.

"Ok, have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Well, I think we can pretty much do anything we like with that warning." Tristan said with an evil grin.

"Shush boy! I'm going to the diner."

The teens shared a look.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Rory told her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lorelai replied.

"Mmhmm. Say hi to Luke for me." They walked out leaving a slightly confused Lorelai.

"What exactly do you think is going on there?" Rory asked as she and Tristan drove out of town.

"Where? Over there? Looks like Kirk is being chased out of town by a group of dogs. Isn't he supposed to be walking them?"

"Yes, it's his new business. But I meant with mom and Luke. Do you really think there's something going on?"

"Ror, seriously, you can't see it?"

"See what?"

"Luke's totally in love with her. He may not realise it yet, but he is. And I mean, who can blame him? The Gilmore woman are quite fascinating."

Rory stared out at the road.

"Ror? Rory, what's wrong?"

"It just hit me."

"What just hit you? Are you ok?"

"My parents aren't together. And one day, my mom's probably going to want to remarry. I never realised that before."

"It's ok. I'm sure that won't be for a long time. And I was just kidding. Luke's probably not in love with Lorelai. I think he just likes her. Everything will be ok. Alright? I promise."

Rory nodded, but she wouldn't move anything else. Her mind was racing.

ok, I just reread that and confused myself. The teens shared a look and "It just hit me." I realise Rory kind of just changed her mind a little there, but i liked it when i was writing it. Tell me what you think.


	24. You Always Have To Go Back

Disclaimer: (Wow haven't done one of these in a while,) I do not own Gilmore girls orany of the characters. I also don't own The Breakfast Club.

_It's fine. Luke's a great guy. He and mom would make a good couple._ Rory tried to convince herself. _Dad never made her happy, but Luke can make her smile, even when he doesn't mean too._

She was slowly warming up to the idea of her mother moving on from her marriage. As she watched the two adults argue, she smiled.

_Tristan was right. They look really good together._

"Rory?" Tristan was looking at her. He followed her eyes and realised what she was smiling about. "What did I tell you? Everything's going to be fine."

"Ugh! That man is impossible." Lorelai stormed away from the counter and sat with the teenagers.

"What's wrong mom?"

"Luke, he won't give me coffee. He thinks I've had too much."

"Well, you had four cups at the house, probably another six at the inn, and it's eight o'clock. If you have anymore today you'll never sleep again." Tristan told her.

"That's what he said. How do you know that?"

"I've known you for years. I know the signs of too much coffee in a Lorelai."

"But he doesn't. Go and make him change his mind."

"Me? He doesn't even like me."

"Oh that's right. Rory you go, he's always liked you."

"Mom I agree with them, I think you may have had just a bit too much."

"Traitor. Fine I'll just go to the hungry diner. Daphne won't refuse me."

"There's no one named Daphne at the Hungry Diner." Tristan informed her.

"I know that. She's the coffee maker."

"You named the coffee maker again? In a public place?" Tristan asked.

"Uh, yeah. Everything deserves a name. Otherwise, something's going to feel left out."

"Why am I surprised? What's wrong with my brain today?"

"Nothing that isn't wrong with it every other day." Lorelai replied.

"Nice, real nice."

"As much as I'd like to stay and enjoy the love fest, I'm gonna go home and organise my stuff for tomorrow."

"Honey you've organised it all ten times." Lorelai told her. Rory was returning to school and she was nervous.

"It hasn't been ten times."

"Oh you're right it was more like twenty."

"Ok, thank you, I'm leaving now." Rory walked out of the diner and slowly made her way home.

As she walked along she could feel eyes on her.

"Is anyone there?" she asked the darkness. Suddenly she saw the flame from a lighter, illuminating Jess' face.

"Oh, Jess hi."

"Rory." He nodded in her direction, lighting a cigarette. Tristan used to smoke, but he stopped not long after he and Rory started dating. She didn't like the smell, and he wasn't that into it. He only did it socially.

"What are you doing out here in the dark"

"Taking a break from work. What about you? Where's the boyfriend?"

"He's at the diner finishing his dinner. I'm just going to get my stuff fixed up for school."

"You don't go to Stars Hollow High?"

"No, I go to Chilton. My parents went there and it's this whole tradition thing. Plus all my friends are there and Tristan. So hopefully I'll survive."

"Survive what?"

"The evil Chiltonite's gossip." She replied. "I've gotta go. Bye," she turned around and walked away as he just stood and watched her.

"Rory come on, get out of the bathroom." Tristan called banging on the door the next morning.

"Trouble in paradise already?" Lorelai asked from the kitchen.

"No, she's just nervous and she won't come out. Even though I WON'T LET ANYTHING BAD HAPPEN TO YOU!" He yelled at the door.

"They're all going to be talking about how I was trapping you with a fake pregnancy." She replied quietly. Paris had told her about the confrontation with Summer a few weeks back.

"No they won't"

"Yes they will. Everyone's going to be talking about it, and I'm already behind. With them whispering behind my back I won't be able to concentrate and I'll never catch up."

"Rory, I don't want to hear you talking like that." Lorelai told her, walking over. "You are going to be fine, and if they are talking about you, I'll spread a vicious rumour about Summer. You're the smartest girl I know and you will catch up. You can do it. I have complete faith in you. And I don't have complete faith in anything."

"You have to say that. You're my mom."

"Well I agree. And I have no obligations to you." Tristan told her. "I mean, I love you, but I don't have to."

"Thanks. I feel great now."

"Just get your butt out here." Lorelai demanded. Slowly the doorknob began to turn. "Good girl. Now come and have a pop tart."

Rory followed her mother into the kitchen. Tristan held her hand as they sat at the table. Lorelai put some pop tarts on a plate in front of them.

"So did you want me to come with you?"

"That's a good idea. I bring my mommy to school because I'm scared of everyone."

"Ok, can I have my daughter back please?"

"I'm sorry I just don't really want to go back. I mean I want to finish school, but that place is just…"

"Full of memories?" Tristan asked. She nodded. "There are good memories there too."

"Really? Do tell." Lorelai grabbed a pop tart.

"That time we all got detention." He replied, referring to when he, Rory, Paris, Madeline, Louise, Jake, Devon, Summer and Scott had a Saturday detention. It was the one and only detention Paris and Rory had, they were only there because of Madeline and Louise.

"I'd forgotten about that."

"Oh yeah, Rory's first detention. What happened again?"

"Truth or dare." Rory said with a smile.

"The first time we kissed. After puberty that is." Tristan added.

"Awesome. My daughter and the breakfast club ladies and gentleman."

"Ok, thanks for making me feel better, but if we don't leave now we'll be late." Rory stood up.

"Good luck babe." Lorelai said hugging her. "And remember, if they give you any crap, let me know. I'll sort 'em out."

"Right, see you later."

When they arrived everyone in the parking lot stared as they made their way towards the school.

"Rory!" Louise screamed running down to hug her friend. "You're back?"

"I'm back."

"Oh I'm so glad." Paris and Madeline quickly made their way down to hug Rory, followed closely by Austin and Jake.

"Yeah don't worry about me, I don't need a hug." Tristan said. The four girls turned to look at him. "Aww!" they wrapped their arms around him, each planting a kiss on his cheek.

Rory was accompanied everywhere she went for the rest of the door.

English Lit with all of her girlfriends. Debate with Tristan. History with Austin. Trigonometry with Jake. Biology with Paris. And Spanish with Madeline and Austin.

Summer and a few of her friends had Biology and Trig with Rory. She had to work really hard to ignore them, but finally she got through the day.


	25. Study Time

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked as Lorelai collapsed onto the counter.

"Nice to see you too." She grumbled.

"What I mean is, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Yeah, but today's Rory's first day back at Chilton and I'm gonna get her and Tristan coffees. Offer moral support for all the crap those evil kids put her through."

"How do you know they put her through crap?"

"Because I was one of them. When I was Rory's age I was friends with a lot of girls like the ones she goes to school with and they were horrible. I know exactly what they're going to be saying about her. Some of it will be the same things their mothers said about me."

"Ok." Luke looked confused as he poured the coffees.

"Thanks. We'll see you at dinner." She stood and made her way back out to the jeep.

"So how do you think it went?" Tristan asked Rory as they walked back out to their car.

"It wasn't so bad. There were a few things I'd rather not remember, but it was sweet of you to organise for someone to stay with me all day." She smiled knowingly at him.

"What do you mean? I didn't have anything to do with you're schedule."

"What about lunch? Every time I went to the bathroom?"

"We always sit together at lunch. And girls always go to the bathroom together. I don't know why, it's just what you do."

"So why did Austin stand guard while Madeline and I were in there?"

"Because he's Austin? I don't know that guys just too weird."

"Alright I'll let this one slide." She wrapped an arm around his wait and he pulled her closer as they reached the car.

"Aww, look at the love birds. They're so wrapped up in each other they don't even notice the beautiful woman bringing them the elixir of life."

The two of them turned to the familiar Jeep parked beside Tristan's Porsche to see Lorelai standing with three large to-go cups from Luke's

"Hi mom." Rory smiled and hugged her mom while taking her coffee.

"Hey Lorelai. Thanks."

"So, how'd it go?"

Rory took a deep breathe. "Well it was Chilton. And this week I was the scandal girl. You could tell they've been working on their whispering for weeks."

"I'm sorry sweetie. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Get me some chocolate chip pancakes from Luke's?"

"With whipped cream and strawberries? I'm on it." Lorelai jumped back into her car and drove away.

"I'm definitely going to need that sugar rush to get through all of this homework." She complained. As she fastened her seatbelt.

"What do you reckon? Study group. We could get everyone together for the night."

"Sounds good to me. I'll call the girls." Rory pulled her phone out and hit #3 on speed dial.

"Hello?" a breathless Louise answered on the fourth ring.

"Hey it's Rory... What are you doing?"

"Uh… Nothing. What's up?"

"We were wondering if you'd like to come over tonight to study. You know, go through the hell of homework together."

"Sure." Rory heard a muffled male voice in the background. "Who was that?"

"TV. So, um when?"

"Six thirty sound good?"

"Yeah great. I'll see you then." The male spoke again and this time Rory recognised it."

"Wait is that Jake?" she asked as Louise hug up without another word.

Rory frowned at the phone.

"What's wrong?" Tristan asked, turning to look at hr as they stopped at a red light.

"That was Louise. When she answered she was out of breathe. And I'm pretty sure I heard Jake talking in the back."

"They barely even know each other. The only reason they spend anytime together is because of us."

"I know. But I'm sure that it was him."

"I'm calling him." Tristan decided.

Jake answered quickly. "Hello?"

"Jake where are you?"

"At home. Why?"

"Have you seen Louise lately?"

"No. Not since school. What's going on?"

"Never mind. Are you busy tonight?"

"Nope."

"Wanna come over and study?"

"Sure. Around six-thirty?" he asked, Tristan grinned.

"Great. Bye." Tristan looked at Rory. "They were together." He told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. That boy cannot lie to save his life, plus he already knew the details for tonight."

"Well this sure will be interesting." Rory said as she called Paris.

She and Madeline had already gotten the same idea. They had started their work, but decided to wait until the rest of the group was together.

Louise was the last to arrive. The group of friends were all set up in the lounge room when the doorbell rang again. Rory jumped up and ran, Tristan followed close behind her, laughing.

"Hey guys. Ready to study?" Louise asked as they opened the door.

"Not so fast Grant. What's going on between you and Harper?" Tristan pilled her back outside.

Louise blinked, trying to look confused.

"What d'you mean?" she asked.

"I heard him talking to you when we were on the phone." Rory reminded her. "And you were out of breath when you answered."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She laughed nervously.

"I can go get Jake and he can explain." Tristan turned and Louise grabbed his arm.

"No! Ok I'll tell you." She looked at her feet. The other two waited. When it was clear she wasn't going to say anything, Tristan pressed.

"Well..?"

"Jake and I are… CSP's. We're friends with benefits. Whatever you want to call it."

"When did this start?" Rory asked, pulling her friend onto the porch swing.

"Just before you're whole pregnancy thing. We were talking and it just happened. We decided to keep it a secret. But I guess that's over."

"Not necessarily." Tristan informed her. "We'll keep your secret if you promise to keep any of ours that may arise in future."

"Sure. Anything."

"Ok. Let's go study." Rory turned back to the door.

"You're going to tell your mom aren't you?" Louise asked Rory later that night.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because you're Rory and Lorelai. You tell her everything. She's the one who gave me the 'birds and bees' talk."

"Well I was considering it, but it's your thing. I won't say anything you don't want me too."

"Really? Thank you."

"No problem. You'd better go. I think Jake's waiting in the bushes."

Louise laughed, hugged her friend and ran out to her car.


	26. Catching Up With Lane

"So, who's idea was it for me to live with two teenagers?" Lorelai asked Luke as she entered the diner on her lunch break.

"Yours." He replied, not bothering to look up from the receipt book he was going through.

"Really?" she thought about it for a minute. "It does sound like me doesn't it?"

"What's happened? You ran out of hot water or something?"

"No, nothing like that. I was just wondering. Not complaining."

"Sorry, it's hard to tell the difference sometimes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"What if I don't excuse you?" she asked him, he looked at her strangely, then shook his head.

"I still have to go." He turned back to the kitchen, Lorelai watched him as he walked around.

"Hey, Luke can you make me a burger to go?"

"Sure, give me ten minutes."

With her food in a bag, Lorelai walked out of the diner.

Lane Kim was walking home from school. As she passed Luke's Diner, she noticed someone she hadn't seen in awhile.

"Lorelai?" she called running over to the woman.

"Hello?" she stopped and looked around. "Lane, hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm getting lunch. A latelunch, we've been busy all day long. Sookie's run off her feet so she didn't have time to make me anything."

"No, I mean HERE in Stars Hollow."

"Oh, didn't Rory tell you?"

"Rory?" Lane repeated, confused.

"Ok, someone's a little behind. I guess it's been a pretty full-on couple of months. Um, Lori Tristan and I moved to town a couple of weeks ago. Chris and I are divorced. I almost kind of became a grandma, and so with all that drama, we decided to leave the house. Leave the bad memories behind."

"Wait, did you say grandma?"

"Yeah, Rory had a pregnancy scare. Her father and Tristan's parents weren't very supportive. When she found out she wasn't pregnant, she ran here and changed her name. Then we decided to stay."

"Wow! I've missed a bit."

"It all happened pretty fast."

"And everything's ok now?"

"Yeah. Rory went back to school the other day. Some people weren't very kind, but she got through it."

"Well that's good. I'd better get going, my mum will be waiting, But it was great seeing you. Say hi to… Rory for me."

"Sure, se you around."

Lane continued walking home, running all the new information through her head.

"Hi, Mrs Kim, is Lane there? It's Rory."

"Who?" The older woman asked.

"Umm, Lori Hayden." She tried to say the name as normally as possible. It didn't seem to roll off the tongue the way it used to.

"Lane's studying."

"Would it be possible for her to take a ten minutes break?" it was meant sort of as a joke, but she took it seriously.

"She already had a ten minute break."

"Mamma? Is that for me?" Lane asked from a distance.

"You're studying."

"I'm finished."

"English?"

"Yes."

"Math?"

"Yes."

"Geography?"

"Yes."

"Biology?"

"I don't do biology this semester."

"Tomorrow we will look into biology."

"Mamma, the phone?"

"Fine. Ten minutes."

"Thank you." Rory laughed as the phone passed hands. "Hello?"

"Hey Lane, it's Rory."

"I don't know anyone by that name. You wouldn't happen to know Lori would you?"

"Ok, I'm sorry. I should have called you. But there's just been so much going on."

"I know. You're mom told me all about it."

"I was going to tell you. I just… I've been trying to move past everything. Talking about it would just screw that up."

"It's ok. I got all the info I needed. So, how's school going now?"

"The first day back was hell. But my friends are making it easier."

"Well that's good,"

"Lane! Tea is ready."

"Sorry, Rory, I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure, bye."

"Bye."

Lane hung up and slowly made her way to the kitchen to drink the disgusting tea her mother insisted was so good for her.

"You'll never guess who I just called." Rory said as Tristan walked in with a bag of groceries.

"Who?"

"Lane."

"The girl with the control freak mom?"

"The very one. Mom ran into her yesterday, and I thought iu should call her."

"So how is she?"

"She's good, I guess. We didn't have long to talk, but it was mostly about me. She sounded good though." Tristan laughed, he knew Rory didn't like to talk about herself, even if it was to explain something really important.

"That's great. You guys should do something."

"Yeah, we will. I hope. If mrs Kim doesn't stand in the way."

"Well good luck there." They put away the groceries together as they talked.

"Thanks, oh we should invite her over and spend the day introducing her friends."

"What about mrs Kim?"

"She doesn't need to know. I'll make sure Lane tells her it's just the two of us, a girls day."

"Sounds interesting, I hope we can pull it off."


	27. Group Assignments And Revealing Secrets

Disclaimer:I own nothig and it makes me sad.

"…You will need to meet with your assigned groups two times a week, for the next three weeks. The assignment will be due the following week. There will also be one lesson a week devoted to this; you can bring any questions and queries to me then."

Rory sat with her head down, writing every word Mrs Watson was saying.

Government Studies was the only class she had with every one of her friends. She sat in the front row, Paris beside her, Madeline and Louise right behind them.

The boys all sat in the back, Tristan next to Henry, Jake and Austin in front of them. The eight of them were in a group together.

"Don't forget, all meetings will be organised by you, except for the first. I'm telling you now, you will all get together sometime today, and delegate positions. That's all for today. I'll see you on Thursday." Everyone started to gather their books and stand up. "Miss Gilmore, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Rory looked at Paris and mouthed 'What did I do?' Paris just shrugged. Rory walked to the teacher's desk and waited, mrs Watson cleaned the board as she waited for the students to leave, once the room was empty, she closed the door and turned to Rory.

"Welcome back miss Gilmore."

"Thank you."

"Are you settling in alright?"

"Yes, I'm getting back into my routines. My friends are really helping me."

"That's good. Now, as you know, here at Chilton the pressures are greater, the rules are stricter, and the expectations are higher than most schools." She began a speech Headmaster Charleston had given the entire class on their first day. "If you make it through, you will have received one of the finest educations one can get, and there should be no reason why you should not achieve all your goals. However, since you are starting late this semester and you've been away from the highly competitive atmosphere, there is a good chance you will fail. That is fine. We understand failure is a part of life, but it is not a part of Chilton. Do you understand?"

"Yes mrs Watson."

"Good. You would probably find it beneficial to borrow someone's notes. They'll help you a lot when it comes time for your exams. Now you should get going or you'll be late for your next class." Rory nodded and walked out of the room.

"What's going on?" Tristan asked the second the door closed.

"What did she say?" Louise asked her. Madeline, Austin and Jake stared at her.

"Remember the speech we all got on our first day?" they all nodded. "Well, she just revised that. She phrased a few things differently so they would fit with my situation. But it was basically the same speech."

"You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah. But 'it would be beneficial for me to borrow someone's notes. They'll help a lot when it comes time for my exams'." She repeated the teacher's words of advice, making her friends laugh.

"You know, I could loan you my notes if that would help." Tristan said, cornering her by her locker.

"Really? That'd be great."

"Yeah? How great?" he asked, without even thinking. _She's not ready for that._

"I'd show you, but this is a very public place." She replied with a smile. In seconds she'd freed herself from the corner, and walked away with Madeline and Louise.

_Maybe she is._

The three guys watched as they walked away. "Ok, well, if we're all done staring at my girlfriend, I suggest we go to Biology." Tristan finally said, recovering from her shock.

"Dude, she has never sounded that hot what have you been doing to her?" Jake asked, punching his friend playfully.

"Hey! Eyes, hands and minds off. She's mine. Plus you've got Louise so-"

Austin stopped walking and stared at his friends, Tristan froze when he realised what he'd said and Jake just started swearing.

"You WHAT!"

"Crap. Crap. Damn it. Why? Why would you say that? Shit. Shit Shit."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't… Phair, listen." Austin had started muttering incoherently, Tristan grabbed his face stopping his mouth from moving. "Listen to me, no one is supposed to know ok? You need to forget I ever said that. Can you do that?"

"I… You… And she." He pointed a finger at Jake and the hallway Louise had just walked down.

"Come on man. Just forget it. It's easy." Jake had begun hitting his head on a nearby locker, continuing to swear.

"Harper, come here." Jake obediently walked to Tristan. "Now, you explain to our friend here, why it is he has to forget what he just heard."

"Because…" he started his sentence, and then just trailed off, unable to come up with a reason.

"Excellent argument there, I can see why Paris kicked you off the debate team. Listen to me, ok?" he turned back to Jake. "I have no idea why they don't want people to know, they just don't. What you need to do is, be a better friend than me and keep it to yourself ok?"

"Ok."

"Good. Now let's get to Biology before Mr Allen realises we're late." They walked down the corridor in silence. Just before they reached their classroom Austin muttered, "Why aren't any of the girls sleeping with me?" his friends turned to stare at him, before Jake pushed his way through the door and went straight to his desk without a word to the teacher who hadn't even noticed their absence.

I'M AN IDIOT, I JUST BLUTRTED OUT THE THING ABOUT L & J 2 A. Rory looked at her phone quickly while her Spanish teacher had his back turned. She had to bite her lip to stop from crying out when she read Tristan's message.

Y WOULD U DO THAT? She asked him, his reply was quick.

I DON'T KNO. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT

WELL MAYBE IT WONT MATTER. ILL TALK TO LOUISE, SHE MIGHT BE OK WITH IT.

YEAH? WELL JAKE'S NOT TALKING TO ME NOW.

DONT WORRY. GOTTA GO. She quickly stuffed her phone into her pocket as the teacher turned around. She gave him her sweet and innocent smile, and he returned to his lesson.

HEY, WE NEED TO TALK. CAN U GET TO THE BATHROOM? She quickly sent to Louise.

ILL TRY

Rory waited, writing notes between each message she sent and received. Soon her phone vibrated again telling her I'M OUT, WHICH B/ROOM?

"Excuse me Mister Lopez?"

"Yes Miss Gilmore?"

"May I please go to the bathroom?"

The man looked at the clock and took a breath with an irritated face.

"Alright. But make it quick."

"Thank you." She jumped from her seat and raced out the door, quickly replying to Louise's message.

"What's the emergency?" Louise asked the second she saw her friend walk into the restrooms.

"Tristan accidentally let it slip about you and Jake." She said, "But before you scream, just breathe." She instructed. Louise froze, mouth open, she then closed it and did as she was told. "Can you explain to me why it would be so bad if everyone knew about you guys?" Louise thought about it for a minute.

"It's more fun this way."

"You mean, with the thought that you could get caught?"

"Yeah. It makes it interesting. I mean someone could come over while we're together and bust us."

"And that would be ok?"

"No. Not really. But with that thought it just makes everything more exciting."

"But it can still be exciting if everyone knows? Can't it?"

"I guess so."

"So, it's ok?" the blonde shrugged.

"I'm gonna kick his ass." She said, referring to Tristan.

"I'll make sure he knows. Ok, if you're ok, I have to get back to class."

"Sure, go. I'm fine." Rory hugged her friend, and walked back to class. Just before she got into class she received a text message from Paris.

LIBRARY, AT LUNCH. WE NEED TO MEET FOR OUR ASSIGNMENT. BE THERE!

Rory just laughed. Half an hour later she walked to the library to meet with her friends, as she reached the door, she could hear Louise talking angrily.

"What the hell is the matter with you? You said you wouldn't tell!" Rory couldn't stop herself from smiling as she rounded the corner. Louise slapped Tristan, he looked like his was in incredible pain, but Rory could tell he was faking.

"Ok, that's enough. You can continue kicking his ass after our meeting." She said, breaking in between them.

"But, Rory, he told Austin. AUSTIN!"

"I'm aware of that. But Paris is much scarier than you, so I suggest we go in there." She pulled both of them in with her. Paris had already scared away several other students and had their tables moved to create one big one.

"Good, you're here. Now we can get started." The three of them silently took their seats.

"I think what we need to do first is come up with a schedule; where we should have our meetings, on which days and what times." She suggested, lifting a piece of cardboard off the tale.

"Now I've created a draft, here we have all of or names, and across the top, each day of the week." She pointed to each thing as she explained. "We need to decide when we'll be where. Tomorrow night, Austin?"

"Nope. My brother's girlfriend is staying with us, I don't think we would get anything done with them in the next room."

Paris looked at him strangely then shook her head. "Fine. Madeline?"

"My step-mother is trying out some new medication, she's been banging into a lot of things lately."

"Louise?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because. You've all seen my house. When my mother is remodelling, it's not a good idea to be there."

"Is there anyone who wants to donate their house for a day?" Paris asked, giving up on the individual questioning.

"We could go to our place." Rory suggested.

"Our place. That sounds so cool." Tristan said to himself.

"Ok. Tomorrow, five o'clock, Rory and Tristan's."

"Good, can we go now?" Austin asked, shooting looks at Louise, Jake, Rory and Tristan.

"No. We need to talk about this assignment. It's forty per cent of our grade."

"But I'm hungry. Can't we talk in the cafeteria?"

"How about we just meet back here after school?" Tristan suggested. Paris frowned.

"Fine. But if any of you are late, you will be punished.

"Oh, goody." Louise grinned at her friend and then left, followed by the rest of the group.


	28. Dean

That afternoon as they drove home from school, Rory's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Rory. Hi it's Lane."

"Hey Lane, what's up?"

"I'm bored. My mother insisted on meeting with the head of the science department. So I've been sitting outside the staffroom for over half an hour while she interrogates the teachers."

"That sounds like fun," she said laughing. As she looked over at Tristan, she remembered their conversation from a couple of days ago. "Hey, we're doing this government studies assignment and everyone's meeting at our place tomorrow Do you want to come?"  
"Sure, if I can get away from home. What time?"

"We're meeting at five, but I don't know how long it'll go for."

"I'll see what I can do. Oh, she's coming out and she looks happy. This is not a good sign."

"Good luck." Rory hung up. "Do you think she'll be mad?"

"Paris? No… Well, yes, but she'll get over it once she starts concentrating on the work."

"I just want all my friends to meet."

"I know. Don't worry." Rory's phone rang again. "Someone's popular today." Tristan said with a grin as she answered.

"Hey mom, what's up?"

"I don't know. But I can tell you what's down. Me, because Michel is an evil creature. How he ever got a job in the hospitality industry I'll never know."

"Ok, let me try that again. What do you need?"

"Light bulbs and batteries."

"We're near the store now, I'll get them. When will you be home?"

"Around six. There's money in the kitchen for Luke's or whatever." Rory raised her eyebrows. "I'll see you tonight. Mommy loves you."

"Love you too," she hung up and looked at Tristan.

"What?"

"'There's money in the kitchen for LUKE'S or whatever.'"

"What?" He asked again, confused.

"I think she likes him." She didn't feel strange about saying that. It felt ok now.

"Is that good or bad?"

"It's ok. Possibly good soon. Oh pull over please."

"Yes ma'am, is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked in a pretty good British accent.

"That's all for now thank you Jeeves." She got out of the car, walked around to kiss him and went into the store.

She quickly grabbed the things she needed and headed to the register.

"Hi. You're new in town right?" the boy serving asked.

"Yeah, kind of. I've been coming here since I was twelve, but I just moved with my mom."

"Oh, I'm Dean. Dean Forester." He'd finished packing her things into a bag.

"Hi." She replied with a small smile.

"What's your name?" he asked as she handed over her money.

"Rory Gilmore." The name felt so natural now.

"Are you going to Stars Hollow High?"

"No I go to Chilton."

"The prep school?"

"That's the one. Can I-"

"So, Rory, I was wondering, would you like to go out sometime?"

"Well I don't know Dean. You'd have to ask my boyfriend if it's alright with him. That's him-" she pointed out the window. "In the Porsche." She watched as his face fell. Without another word, Dean handed over the bag and Rory's change. She felt a little bad for the way she'd treated the boy, but quickly got over it. "That guy just asked me out." She said quietly climbing back into the car.

"Huh?"

"The guy in the market. He asked me out." She repeated.

"Ok, that's it. Don't people understand what an exclusive relationship is?" he asked. "I'm going in there."

"No. Don't. It doesn't matter. I told him I have a boyfriend. He won't try anything again." She promised.

"Good. Let's go home. If I remember correctly you wanted to show your appreciation for my notes."

"That's right. I did, didn't i?"

"Mmhmm." They drove back to the house, and went straight to the bed they'd been sharing since moving in.

Tristan moved slowly and carefully. He didn't want to rush Rory; rushing her could mean she might decide she wasn't ready and that she needed her own room.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked as she removed his tie.

"Yes. I'm definitely ready." She pulled him onto the bed and they undressed each other.

Tristan reached for a condom from the bedside table and they made love for the first time in months.

It was just like their first time; Tristan was as gentle as he could be. They smiled at each other, and whispered that they loved each other.

When it was over they lay in silence. Tristan grinned, lifting himself up and kissing Rory on her swollen lips, down her neck, all they way to her belly button.

"Don't! That tickles." She giggled as he continued to kiss and blow on her stomach. "No, please, I can't breathe." She begged as the laughter stole all of her breath.

He stopped came back up to face her and smiled.

"I love you." He told her looking directly into her eyes.

"I love you too." She replied leaning up to kiss him.

When they broke apart Rory grinned. "I'm hungry." She said jumping out of the bed.

"Let's go to Luke's." he suggested, knowing better than to stand between a Gilmore girl and her food.


	29. Telling Everyone

A/N: Ok, so,. They're doing an assignmemt, but I was never really good with Rory subjects (A.K.A Smart subjects that actually mean something when you leave school) so, there will be very little work discussed in the following chapters.

The next afternoon when Rory and Tristan got home, Rory went straight to her room to clean up.

"Honey? Whatcha doin?"

"This place is a mess. I have to clean up."

"But why your room? You're doing school work. That's living room stuff. Calm down."

Ok, I'll clean the living room then." She dropped the pile of clothes she'd been gathering and turned to the door.

"Rory, stop. Turn, explain. What's wrong."

"I'm nervous."

"About?"

"Everything. This is the first assignment I've had since coming back. And no one's met Lane before. I just hope it goes ok."

"It will be fine." Lorelai told her daughter, bringing her back to the bed. "You are a genius – the assignment will be easy. And if those kids know what's good for them, they'll love Lane, and she'll love them. They all love you, so it's bound to work out."

"You're the best motivational speaker. Ever considered a career change?"

"Oh no, I couldn't live with out a daily depressing dose of Michel." Lorelai replied with a smile. "So, you're ok now?"

"I'm fine. But I'm still cleaning the room."

"UH! Impossible. You can't be my daughter."

"Of course not, I'm probably the offspring orf a couple with OCD."

"That would make sense."

"It would. Now stop trying to stall. I'm going."

Rory left her room and began straightening the room she would sit in with her friends. Lorelai decided to give up for the moment and come see if she needed help a little later.

As the older woman walked out of the kitchen she was shocked by the sight before her.

"Rory where did our living room go?"

"You're standing in it mom."

"No, see, our living room was filled nicely. Cluttered if you will, This room, has nothing but a sofa, a coffee table and a tv. Where's the rest of it?" she was exaggerating just a little.

"I put it away. We didn't really need any of it."

"We didn't need it? Hello! Of course we need it. My monkey lamp is an important part of this room."

"Mom-"

"Rory I love that lamp. How would you feel if I made youhide you're perfect attendance awards?"

"I wouldn't mind. You only ever put those out to annoy my friends parents anyway."

"Not true. You love having them out."

"Fine. I'll bring it out after they leave."

"You're so mean!"

"I'm letting you keep it so stop complaining."

"Fine. I'm going to get drinks."

"Thankyou mom, we all love you."

"Of course you do, everyone does." She kissed Rorty and turned to the door. "Oh look, its Stars Hollow's favourite group of socialites." She announced as the group pulled up in their separate cars. "I'll see you later. Hey guys don't work too hard."

"Don't worry, we won't." Louise said with a smile.

"Yes we will." Paris replied, glaring at the blonde.

"Ok, well I'll be back with pizza's and drinks later. Paris go easy on them, they're only human."

Lorelai left and Rory's friends turned to her.

"Hey guys, I hope you don't mind, but I invited someone to join us."

"What? Who?" Paris demanded. Clearly she minded.

"Her name is Lane Kim. She lives here in town and she was the first person I met here that was my age."

"I remember you talking about her after your last visit." Louise spoke up.

"Great. So where's Tristan? We need t get started." Paris jumped in, trying to take control.

"He'll be here in a minute. He's getting coffees from the diner." Rory replied, sitting on the couch. The others made themselves comfortable around the room quickly. It was their first time in Stars Hollow, but they always managed to be comfortable when they were together.

Paris got started straight away. She had everyone pull out their books and began to explain what she had planned.

Twenty minutes into their studying, the door opened to reveal Tristan and Lane.

"Look who I found." He said as they put down six coffees, keeping their own.

"Lane, hey. I'm so glad you could make it." Rory said as everyone grabbed a drink.

"Just don't tell my mother. In case she asks, this is a bible study group of future Korean doctors."

"Cool, my IQ just went up." Madeline announced with a smile.

"Ok, so introductions…" Rory said, as everyone sat watching Lane. "That's Austin, Jake, Henry, Madeline Louise, and Paris." She pointed to each person as their name was said, they all waved and Lane smiled at them.

"Anyway, as fascinating as our names are," Pais interrupted, trying to get their attention. "We really have to concentrate."

"Relax Paris, we've got time. Why don't we get to know Lane a little better." Austin suggested.

The girls grinned at the idea of avoiding work, and Madeline moved to make room for the new girl.

"What do you want to know?" Lane asked, sitting down.

"Who is Lane Kim?" he asked, leaning back.

"She's an angry American teenager, trapped in the body of a well-mannered Korean girl." That got a laugh from everyone but Paris.

She has the greatest music collection too," Rory old them.

"Really? What've you got?"

"Everything. Classic rock, progressive rock, pretty boy rock, Punk, New Wave, German metal bands. Broadway soundtracks.-"

"Ok, seriously Rory, I don't have everything."

"Well there's a lot."

"Not every CD ever made."

"So what are you missing?" Hi-5 and Britney Spears?" Louise asked, laughing.

"Actually I have Britney's first album. It wasn't that bad!" she tried to defend her choice in music when everyone stared in shock.

"As fascinating as all of this is, we really need to do some work." Paris interjected.

"Paris, we've got like four weeks." Tristan replied. "we can leave it for a few hours."

"No, don't let me interrupt. Do your assignment. I'm just happy to be away from old furniture."

"It's fine. Keep talking, I'll probably hate the crap they submit to me, and wind up doing it all myself anyway. I'll just go into the kitchen to work." Paris grumbled walking away.

"I'll give you a hand." Rory said, standing. "Are you guys right here?"

"We're fine." Jake nodded as he lay down.

"Have you got any magazines?" Louise asked, fixing her hair into a better ponytail.

"Yeah. There's some in my room, but more in my mom's I'll get them for you."

"Thanks." Just as Rory disappeared up the stairs, Lorelai entered, carrying a stack of pizza boxes.

"Hello my children, I hope you've all worked up an appetite, because I have brought a feast. Could you boys get the drinks out of the car? There's some stuff from Luke's too."

Tristan, Austin, Jake and Henry all stood and walked out the door. Lane stood to take some of the pizza's.

"Oh hey Lane you made it. Cool."

"Yeah. We're a bible study group of fuure Korean doctors." Madeline said with a happy smile.

"Madeline really likes being smart." Louise observed from the couch.

"Good for you. Where's Paris? Don't tell me she finally decided to have some fun and I missed it."

"No, she's in the kitchen working."

"That sounds about right. And my daughter?"

"She is upstairs, looking for reading material worthy of one Louise Grant." Tristan replied carrying in two 18 packs of coke.

"Ok, now I seem to remember having a conversation with you about not doing that!" Lorelai turned to glare at him.

"Doing what?" He asked innocently.

"Walking into my conversations. It's freaky."

"Sorry, I must have forgotten."

"Don't do it again." She warned. "And take those to the kitchen, they ned to bbe cold.

"Ok, here we go. Vogue, Seventeen, Vanity Fair, Jane, Martha Stewart? Why does my mother have Martha Stewart magazine." Rory asked as she walked down the stairs wiha stack of magazine's.

"It's for the pretty pictures. I'm collecting idea's for this pace. Even though nothing will ever get done."

"Here's an idea." Jake said, "Paint the house. That colour is just not right."

"We will. We just need to get a few things organised first."

"I'll et Paris and s if she's still pissed at us or if she wants to eat." Louise decided, leaving the room.

"This is so much fun. I can't believe I've been so deprived of a normal teenage life." Lane complained. Cocking her head to the side she thought for a moment.

"Yes I can. I am in the custody of Mrs Kim after al."

"Don't worry." Austin told her, digging some fries out of a bag from Luke's. "We'll do what we can to rescue you from now on."

"You never offered to rescue me." Rory complained.

"You've never needed it. And if you ever do, you have Tristan." He replied.

"Yeah, not some stupid bag boy." Tristan muttered.

"What was that" Lorelai asked him.

"Nothing." Rory gave Tristan a warning look.

"Rory he asked you out. You're MY girlfriend."

"I know. I was there remember. I also recall telling you I said no."

"Wait, back up. Who asked you out?" Henry asked. He'd know Rory forever, he felt as if he had to protect her and the other girls, sometimes. All the boys had begun to feel that way over the last couple of weeks and months.

"The guy at Doose's market."

"Dean? You got the new kid?" Lane said quietly, with a little awe. So far he had barely looked at any of the girls in school.

"Who do I give him back to? Because I have no desire to keep him."

"Sweetie just igore him and he'll go away." Lorelai advised.

"Yeah, that's what I do when I'm done with a guy." Madeline added.

"Is that why you no longer associate with over half the male population of Chilton?" Henry asked her.

"Shut up." She poked her tongue at him.

"Very mature response sister." Lorelai replied gving her a high five.

Paris walked ito the lounge room alone and without speaking Jake stood and left.

"Ok, who was the genius who took away the drinks?" Lorelai asked. Everyone looked at her, then one by one turned to Tristan.

"Oh come on! You told me to do it."

"I would never do such a thing. But, to avoid an argument, I'll get them. How many do we need? Eight?"

"Ten." Austin replied,

"Where are the other two?" Paris asked. "They're avoiding being in the same room as me so they don't have to work aren't the?" Everyone shrugged.

"relax Paris, I'll bring them back." Lorelai left the room. When everyone expected to hear her crack a joke about where the party was, there was only silence. She slowly walked back into the room and asked, "Ok, when were you going to tell me that Louise and Jake were-"

"Mom, can I talk to you in the kitchen please? Right now." Rory jumped up and pulled her mother back to the other room, Tristan followed closely.

"What's going on?" Lorelai asked when the door was cloed.

"Where are they?" Tristan demanded.

"In your room. How long have they-"

"You two, out! Now!" he yelled as he threw open the door.

"Tristan!" Louise screamed at him.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Jake asked as he was pulled out of the room.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? There are people in the next room. You don't want them to know about the to of you, then what the hell are you doing in our room?"

"This is bnone of your business." Louise told him, as she stood in the door way doing up the buttons of he shirt.

"None of my business? We live here."

"Calm down hone." Lorelai moved between the angry teens "How did I not knowthis was going on?"

"We wanted to keep it to ourselves." Louise replied quietly.

"Why?"

"That's a good question. You never told me either." Rory added.

The four of them turned to Louise.

"What?"

"well you were the one that said, keep it between us. You convinced them not to say anything. You explain." Jake told her.

Running a hand through her hair – which was no longer in a perfect ponytail- Louise tried to think.

"We're waiting." Tristan said after a few moments.

"I don't know ok. If it makes you feel better I'll go tell everyone now." she stood and opened the door to the living room. Thr group quickly looked away and then returned their attention to the blonde in the doorway.

"I know you were all listening just now, so why don't I explain huh? Her friends waited patiently for a explanation. "I'm sleeping with Jake. I have been for at least five months. Ok? Are you happy now?" she turned to the four behind her.

"Extremely. Break out the Wang Chung I'm going to do a happy dance." Lorelai replied.

The teens stared in shock at Louise and Jake.

"Ok, screw the assignment. I'll do it myself." Paris was the first to recover, she stood and pulled Louise to where the girls had gathered.

"We'll leave you to your gossiping." Tristan followed Jake out to the porch as the other boys slowly stood.

Each group had basically the same conversation as they expressed their disbelief.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Madeline said.

"Is she good?" Austin asked, earning a slap omn the back of the head from all the other boys.

"How long was it happening?" Paris wanted to know.

All questions were answered as they reunited to eat. By seven, Lane had to leave.

"It was great to meet you guys. Hopefully we can do this again some time."

"Definitely." They all agreed and said their good byes. Within the next hour the others made their way back to Hartford.


	30. It's A Date

"You've gotta get me her number man." Austin instructed Tristan the next morning.

"Who's?" the blonde asked.

"Lane dude. She's really cool."

"Yeah, she is. But her mom's not."

"Mom's don't scare me."

"This one should. I've nebver mett her but from what I've heard, she's worse than Hitler."

"Ok, so does that mena you won't give me her number?"

"I don't know it. But I can get Rory to call you when she gets back."

"You rock dude."

"Ok, I'll see you later."

"Later." Tristan laughed as he hung upp.

"Oh my God Rory I love you."

"Really? Whast did I do to deserve this public declaration?" Rory asked Lane. They were at the diner, about to order breakfast.

"You're friends are awesome! Compared to the kids at Stars Hollow High they're great! I'm so jealous."

"I'm glad you had a good time."

"I did. I had the best time."

"Oh really? Coz you didn't make that clear." Rory said sarcastically.

"Ok, so there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Ask away."

"Your friend Austin. Does he have, like a girlfriend?"

"No. Not that I know of. He usually just goes on dates; he's not really into the steady girlfriend/ boyfriend thing."

"Oh, well do you think he would want to go on a double date with me, you and Tristan? _On Sunday. After church. But don't tell him about church. Unless he's into church."_

"Oh, um, I don't know... I guess I could ask."

"That would be awesome! My love for you would become eternal."

"It's not already? Ok, I'll ask Tristan to call him when I get home."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"It's ok. But now, onto a much more serious subject. What are we going to have for breakfast?"

"Oh I don't know. I was thinking pancakes."

"With a side of bacon?"

"No, but go ahead."

Rory turned around to look for Luke just as he was walking towards them with a fresh pot of coffee.

"Know what you want yet?"

"Yes. Two stacks of blueberry pancakes?" Lane nodded. "With a side of bacon on mine." Rory replied.

"Coming right up."

"Thanks Luke." Both girls said as he walked away.

"He hates that we drink coffee. Have you noticed how slow he walks with the coffee pot?" Rory asked.

"I know. It's sad that he's not over it yet. I mean you've been drinking since you were what, twelve?"

"Ten. But he still thinks I'm too young. And I guess the amount that I drink doesn't really help much either, but he should be fine with you. You only just started and you drink such a small amount."

"That's true. Because if I had any more than two cups a day, Mrs. Kim would know and she would book me into a rehab clinic, believing I was on drugs."

"Or worse, she could just tie you to your bed and do it the old fashioned way."

"Make me stay there until it's all out of my system and I've puked more than the girl in the Exorcist? I wouldn't put it past her."

"Scary lady. Maybe you should stick to your two cups."

"I will do that."

Minutes later Jess waked over with their food, put down the plates and walked out of the diner without saying a word.

"So he's not really the talkative kind of guy huh?" Rory asked watching him go.

"No. He's a lot like Luke in that way. But he gets into way more fights. He's always fighting with someone."

"He must be very popular then."

"The other day he was like wrestling in the snow with Jason Ringrow."

"That's not good."

"No, especially not when Dean tries to break them up and ends up getting a black eye for just wanting to help."

"Really not good." Lane shook her head. "So let's talk about something fun again. Where did you want to go on your date?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking the movies maybe?"

"Good idea. They're showing Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman at the BWR Theatre."

"Interesting choice."

"I thought so." They finished their food and then went to pay. As they walked out the door Lane was grinning from ear to ear at the thought of going on a date.

"I'll call you as soon as I know anything." Rory told her. They hugged and then went their separate ways.

"Tristan? Are you here?" Rory called as she walked into the house.

"Kitchen. I need to ask you something," he replied.

"Me too. You go first." She said walking into the room.

"It's about Lane. And Austin."

Are you serious?"

"Yeah. He wanted her number. I tried to warn him, but since when does he listen?"

"She wants to know if he would go on a double date with us."

"Well, well, well. There are woman in the world that are crazier than your mother."

"Nice. Really nice."

"I'm just saying, she wants to go out with Austin. Is she serious?"

"Yeah. You should have seen her face. She was really happy about yesterday."

"Ok, well I'll call him. Let him know he wasn't completely alone in his infatuation."

"Thank you." She kissed him and sat at the table waiing for him to call.

"Hey… Listen, I talked to Rory and she says Lane wants to go to a movie… Yes, no with us too. Ok, so it's fine with you?" Rory tapped him on the arm and mouthed 'Sunday afternoon'. "How's next Sunday afternoon?... Cool. We'll see you here at four?" Rory nodded "Yeah, four. Ok, we'll see you then."

He hung up and Rory grinned.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"I think I remember it but I'm not sure."

"Well I love you. Very much. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now you call Lane. Give her the good news."

"Ok. Here goes." Rory took the phone and dialled.

"Hello Mrs Kim, this is Rory. May I please speak with Lane? "

"You were just with Lane. What do you need now?"

"I just remembered something I didn't tell her. It's very important. I promise it will only take a minute."

"Fine. One minute. Lane! Phone!"

"Hello?" Lane answered a moment later, out of breathe.

"Hey it's Rory."

"Did you do it? What happened?"

"He said yes. Sunday afternoon at four, sound good?"

"It sounds perfect. Did I tell you that I love you?"

"Yes you did. Ok, well I'll talk to you later. Congratulations."

"Thanks. You're the best." They hung up and Rory had a feeling that Lane was doing her own version of a happy dance.


	31. My Twist On The Double Date Ep

Ok, so I just realised that I've screwed this up a little. I mean, Mia was there, according to Lane Dean's still the new kid, and Jess is there. I'm sorry. I get a lot of things confused, and writing three stories simultaneously is very confusing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or Desperate Houswives.

For the week leading up to their date, Lane and Austin continuously bombarded their friends with questions. Lane was always calling and paging Rory asking what she should wear, how she should do her hair and **'why the hell did Austin agree to this?'**

Austin on the other hand was very calm. He never got nervous about anything which annoyed his friends a lot. He just kept talking about how he had a date, rubbing it in Madeline, Henry and Paris' faces. They ignored him though.

Louise and Jake had decided they would try being a couple for awhile. The Chilton community were all a little shocked. They hadn't expected that duo to emerge from the group. But surprisingly – and to Louise's annoyance – they moved on from it within just a few days. She hadn't wanted anyone to know, but the fact that they knew and didn't care was infuriating.

As Sunday rolled around Lane made it clear she needed Rory to help her get ready.

"I can't do this alone. You have a boyfriend, tell, me how everything works."

"You just need to be you. If it's not meant to be with you and Austin, then you can just move on and find another American boy for your parents to hate."

"What kind of encouragement is that? We haven't even gone out yet and you've already decided it's not meant to be? Why? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing! You're not going to do anything wrong. It's going to be great."

"Really?"

"I'm sure it will."

"Ok. Is it time to go?"

"It's time. They're meeting us there come on." They left the house just as Lorelai was arriving.

"Oh, pretty. Where are we going?"

"Movies with Tristan." Rory replied.

"What a lucky boy. Ok, have fun girls."

They walked away from the house and Lane asked, "You don't want to tell her?"

"Well did you tell your mom?"

"No, but that's mrs. Kim. You have Lorelai."

"And Lorelai doesn't like to lie to other mom's. She thinks it's bad karma or something. Trust me. We give only the essential details. It'll be fine. What did you tell your mom?"

"That I was watching movies at your place with you and your mom, and some of your friends from school may or may not come over."

"And she didn't ask any more questions?"

"She did, and I ended up telling her it was Paris and Louise."

"Oh the boy's love that."

"I thought so."

As the bookstore came into view, Rory told Lane to stay calm. They met up with the boys and after an awkward moment between Lane and Austin in which they were unsure how to greet each other, they headed inside to get tickets.

"We'll get popcorn and drinks." Tristan decided after they found seats. "You guys want anything else?"

"No thanks."

"I'm cool dude." The blonde took his girlfriends hand and puled her away.

"They'll be fine. Let's go."

"I just want to make sure-"

"Don't worry. They will be ok."

Kirk sold them their refreshments and they returned to their seats.

"So, Austin, what kind of music do you like?" Lane asked while they sat alone.

"I don't know. Pretty much anything. Except the bubble-gum poppy chicks. Unless they're hot." He replied.

"Ok. What about books? Do you read?"

"I read magazines."

"Really? Which ones?"

"Well, I don't actually read them." He replied as an after thought. "I mostly look at the pictures." He grinned as he remembered some of his favourites.

'_Enough said.'_ Lane thought.

"Ok." She turned to face the screen again just as Tristan and Rory returned. No one said a word as they watched the movie.

Lorelai couldn't stand eatingalone, so she decided to go to Luke's for dinner when she began to suffer hunger pains.

"LUKE! Feed me!" she begged sitting at the counter.

"Only if you keep your voice down." He replied putting a menu in front of her.

"Ok." She replied eagerly.

"And if you have a salad." He added, realising he could almost control her at this time.

"That's not fair. You know I can't say no when I need food."

"Just say the word and you get fed."

"Ok. Fine. But make it a SMALL salad, very small, miniscule."

"I'll make it as big as I want." He walked away to serve another customer, while Lorelai tried to decide on an unhealthy meal to drown out the salad.

"Know what you want yet?" Jess asked her.

"Yes. Not a salad. And a burger and fries."

"I don't understand you. I'll get Luke."

"No! Jess, please…" he walked away and Luke returned.

"So, a garden salad and…?"

"Burger and fries." Lorelai muttered sadly.

"Good choice." He walked into the kitchen to make the food for other customer's and then returned to Lorelai with hers.

"Hey, do you want to play cards or something?"

"I'm working."

"But there's only like two other people here. And it doesn't look like there is anyone else out in the town. Jess can handle it if more people do miraculously show up."

"Jess just left."

"Come on Luke. I need entertainment. My daughter has more of a life than I do. And I'm supposed to be sleeping with the hot gardener by now, I'm sure of it."

"Who?" he asked, very confused.

"Desperate Housewives. Never mind, it would take too long to explain. Come on. Where are we on the cards issue?"

With an irritated sigh, Luke opened a drawer in the counter and pulled out a pack of cards.

"YAY!" she clapped her hands as Luke dealt. "What are we playing?"

"What can you play?" Luke asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Snap?"

"Oh jeez. Fine. We'll play snap."

"Yes!" Lorelai picked up her cards and they began to play.

By the third game Luke had proved to Lorelai that she was in fact the snap champion. He sucked. "Poker is my game." He would complain every time she won.

"Ok. That's it. We're stopping now." He gathered the cards and shoved them ack into the drawer.

"Well what am I supposed to do for entertainment?"

"We could be like regular people and talk."

"You can talk? Like putting words into sentences? I'm shocked."

"Shut up."

"I'm sorry, I'm just used to monosyllabic man."

"Well I can talk."

"Ok, ok. What do you wanna talk about? Are you going to tell me all about your amazing girlfriend who you're totally in love with, thus proving my point that everyone in the world gets out more than me?"

"No. I don't have a girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I did have a girlfriend. But she didn't really enjoy living in a small town, so she left for bigger and better things. Twice."

"Oh, Luke I'm sorry."

"Why? I'm not. She didn't want to be here, she let, I lived. It doesn't matter."

"Yeah but-"

"It doesn't matter Lorelai. I'm fine."

"Ok. Good I just wanted to make sure."

"Well you did, can we move on now?"

"Sure. What topic next?"

"Well what about you? Had any dates since the divorce?"

"If I had I wouldn't be sitting here complaining about Rory. No. I have not had any dates since Christopher and I split up. I've just been working and hanging out with the kids."

"Well, that's good. You don't want to start too early. Date every guy you meet, and force your daughter to hate the entire male species."

"She wouldn't do that."

"Really?"

"Well she might hate some of them… But she would never hate you."

"Me?"

"Well, you know, a guy like you."

"Oh right." They stayed silent for a moment, both thinking about what she had just said. Lorelai couldn't believe she'd said that, it sounded so stupid in her head. Luke was in a little bit of shock, but he thought that sounded kind of nice.

"_Maybe sometime we could…_ I don't know, eat something together…"

"Like… A date?"

"Well, yeah. No, forget it. It's too weird. I-"

"No, Luke, that sounds really nice. I um… sure. When?"

"Uh… Maybe, I don't know. Next Saturday?"

"Sure. Next Saturday is good. How about Silvano's?"

'_You have to wear a tie at Silvano's…'_ "Silvanos sounds great. Eight o'clock?"

"Perfect."

The door slammed as Mrs Kim walked in.

"_Where are the girls? "_

"_What?"_

"_Lane said she's with you and Rory."_

"_They said they were going to a movie."_

"_With who?"_

"They were going to meet Tristan."

The woman looked at Lorelai with disgust. _"A boy? You let them go with a boy?"_

"Mrs. Kim, Tristan is Rory's boyfriend."

"_Just because you let your daughter run around with boys doesn't mean I let mine."_

"I thought Lane had told you."

"She didn't tell me! She said she was watching movies with you, Rory and other girls from school. _They could be anywhere, they could be doing anything. Smoking, or drinking or buying drugs! _

"_They're at the movies. There's no drugs there. They don't even have the real red vines."_

"_I need to find them." _She stormed out the door.

"_I'm coming with."_ Lorelai replied, grabbing her purse and following the scary lady out the door.

"So, that was a cool movie." Austin said as they stood out the front of the bookstore.

"Very cool." Tristan agreed, trying to telepathically apologise to the girls.

"I should probably be getting home." Lane announced.

"Really? Why don't we go grab something to eat?" Austin asked.

"I would love to. Really, but I have to get up early in the morning. So, this was fun, I'll see you later maybe."

"For sure."

"LANE KIM!" The four of them turned to the angry voice.

"_My mom!"_

"_My Mom!"_

"Woah, two moms. What'd you do?"

"Mama, I was just coming-"

"What are you doing here with boys?"

"Mama I can –"

"You lied to me! You said Rory and girls were watching movies. There's no other girls here."

"I'm sorry."

"Get home! Now!" Mrs Kim grabbed her daughter's arm and pulled her away from the group as she yelled in Korean.

"Mom, I can explain everything."

"And you will. Say good night Rory. Tristan, I think it would be best if you took Austin home now. The longest way you know how,"

"Sure Lorelai,"

"So what the hell is that about? Since when do you lie to me?"

"I don't I just didn't want you to have to lie to mrs Kim for us. Because I know how you feel about lying to moms."

"_You lied to me so I wouldn't have to lie to mrs Kim?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Oh my God, you really are my daughter."_

_"I'm sorry."_

"Just don't ever let it happen again, Ok? Or we might be forced to have a relationship like the one I have with my mother."

"I won't. I swear."

"Good girl."

Ok so i klike re-wroe part of the double date eisode as you may have noticed. I thought of that weeks agaio, I've trying to figure out when i can pput it in, and there it is.Did you enjoy it? Please R&R.


	32. Bringing Back Mr and Mrs Satan

They're going on a date! YAY! Ok, so I'm writing this, why am I acting like an absolute freak you may be asking. Well, that's just me. I do that sometimes. Sorry this is late I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to go next. This is basically just a filler.

Lorelai woke up at five am the next morning, worrying about what she had done the night before. She climbed out of bed and ran down the stairs to Rory and Tristan's room.

"Rory? Rory…? Are you awake?"

"I am now. What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I need to talk to you. Is this a bad time?"

"Oh, you mean five in the morning? No it's a perfect time." She replied sarcastically.

"Lorelai? Rory, what's going on?" Tristan asked, sleepily.

"Don't worry. Just go back to sleep." She told him climbing out of bed. "Come on mom." Rory grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her out to the lounge room. "What's the matter with you?"

"I need to talk to you." Lorelai repeated.

"You said that. What's so important that it couldn't wait for the sun?"

"I think I'm going out with Luke."

"What?" Rory was still half asleep and wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.

"I was having dinner at the diner, and Luke and I were playing snap and talking. I think he asked me out."

"Really?" Rory asked. She smiled. "That's great mom."

"It is? Are you sure? Because I don't even know how I feel about it I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Luke's a great guy mom. He's really nice, and if he makes you happy, then I'm happy too. At least I will be I just have to adjust."

"Ok. So, we're having dinner at Silvano's next Saturday."

"Silvano's? Nice. You're idea?"

"Of course. I don't think Luke was too thrilled, but it was his idea in the first place, then he started getting all weird, like he hadn't meant to ask me. Oh God!"

"What?"

"What if he didn't? He might have been distracted and didn't realise he was asking me. Oh my God."

"Mom, that's crazy. Of course he meant to ask you. He's wanted to since we moved here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well… I mean, Tristan said that-"

"What does Tristan have to do with this?'

"He made me realise how Luke feels and-"

"And how is that?"

"He likes you mom. He really likes you."

"Really?"

"Really. How could he not? You're amazing."

"Thanks baby." Lorelai smiled and they hugged. "Ok, go to bed. Apologise to Tristan for you're crazy mommy?"

"I will. Again." Rory said standing and walking away.

"Hey!" Lorelai called after her, offended.

She went back to bed and fell into a comfortable sleep, relaxed and happy.

The next morning Rory and Tristan walked into the diner to grab coffee's before school. Luke stood behind the counter.

"Hey Luke. Can we get two coffees to go?"

"Sure. Anything else?"

"Ahh…. How about blueberry pancakes?" Rory asked.

"Sure. That'll be a few minutes."

"Thanks Luke." She said smiling and turning to sit at an empty table.

"So when are you going to tell me what was going on last night?" Tristan asked her when they were alone.

"Mom and Luke are going on a date."

"They are?"

"Yeah, she said that he asked her when we were with Lane and Austin."

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"Lane and Austin. What were we thinking?"

"I don't think we were."

"Well, I know you weren't. It was horrible."

"They wanted it! I was only doing what my friends asked me to do." She defended herself.

"What ever you say." Tristan smirked at her, but she just ignored him while Luke put down her pancakes.

"Ok, dude, that was weird." Austin said as he met up with Tristan at school.

"What was?"

"The date. I mean Lane's great and everything but…"

"Her mom's not. Did I or did I not tell you that already?"

"I don't know. I don't remember. Anyway any chance of another one. Without any chaperones?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, Rory hates lying to her mom, and promised she would never do it again. But in order for you to date Lane, she would most likely have to."

"Really? That sucks. So I'm guessing that's a no then."

"I think so. It looks like you'll just have to find someone else to stalk next week."

"Dude, shut up."

"So Rory, did I tell you how much I love you?" Lane asked as they walked by the gazebo after school. Tristan had soccer practise until five with Jake, and then they were meeting up to finish their assignment.

"You do? Still, after the mess that was Sunday?"

"Of course. Because if you hadn't done it then I would probably still think Austin was amazing boyfriend material. I now however know he's just one of those guys that you're friends with because dating him would be an absolute disaster."

"Ahh, well I'm glad I could help."

"So am I. Thanks."

"No problem. Oh! I have news?" Rory announced in a very excited tone.

"What?" Lane mocked using the same voice.

"Don't do that its mean."

"Right, like you and Lorelai don't mock everything that's wrong with the world."

"Back to my news please." Rory instructed.

"Ok, go ahead. What happened?"

"Mom's dating Luke."

"WHAT! When did that start?"

"Well, it hasn't officially started. They're going to dinner on Saturday. She told me at five this morning, because she couldn't sleep."

"Wow, Luke on a date. That's something I can honestly say I never saw coming."

"I know. It's weird to imagine my mom with someone else, but I've promised myself I'd keep an open mind, so I will."

"Have you heard from you-know-who since the move?"

"No. He could be dead in a ditch for all I know. And I really don't care."

"That's not true. Of course you care."

"He was horrible to me when I told him I was pregnant. He told me I had to get an abortion. My grandparents never even suggested that when mom first got pregnant. But obviously he's just like his father, 'cause Straub did."

"Wow. Fun family. So this is good. You can have a new dad."

"I think it's a little too son to joke about that. You might scare mom away."

"True. I'll keep that one for their anniversary."

"Good idea."

HARTFORD

"Anthony, I want him back." Caroline Dugrey said, barging into her husband's study later that afternoon.

"What are you talking about?" the man asked, looking away from his computer screen.

"Tristan. I want him to come home. Who knows what filth he has to live with, with those woman. He should be home where we can feed and clothe him."

"He's a young man who hasn't listened to a word we've said since he started dating that girl. Why would he start now?"

"Because we'll threaten to cut him off. That way he'll have no choice but to come home. We can sue Lorelai. Say that she and Rory have brainwashed him, and we know how to take care of him."

"You really want to do this? Even if he ends up hating us more?"

"I can't sit by as my son lives with people he cares about more than his own parents. It's wrong. He should be home."

"Alright, I'll call our lawyer. See what kind of a case we have."

"Thank you." She grinned an evil grin and left the room.

I've wanted to bring them back in for awhile. I thought this was a perfect time, just as everything's going great POW! The Dugrey's are there to ruin the day. Please R&R, I love reviews.


	33. Time To Prepare

A/N: I have to pause this story. I'm trying to finnish my PDLD which only has a few more chapters to go, and then I'm going to continue the Trory's. I'm sorry if i've annoyed anyone.

"Ok, since I haven't been on a date in what, sixteen years, could you guy's tell me what I'm supposed to wear?" Lorelai carried about half her wardrobe downthe stairs and dumped it on the living room floor in front of rory and her friends.

"Who are you dating?" Henry asked.

"What, these two didn't tel you?"

"We can keep our moths shut." Tristan told her.

"Right, I forgot you can't keep them closed, when you're kissing, but when ut comes to secrets you keep those locked away." Lorelai retorted

"Come on Lorelai, tell me who's ass I have to kick to make you mine." Austin pleaded. He was clearly over the whole Lane thing.

"Well to make me yours… You would have to kick the ass of every guy who was older than you."

"No, I can't do that."

"Why not? You want me don't you?"

"But Tristan and Henry are older than me. I can't fight them."

"Then you can't have me."

"Come on! Tell us who it is." Louise begged. She had tried to act uninterested, but was never able to pull that off around the people she loved.

"Who wants to go get coffee?" Rory asked.

"Rory, we're on a mission." Madeline reminded her.

"If we get coffee you might find out." Tristan suggested.

"Fine."

"Hey, what about me? What am I aupposed to wear?"

"We'll do it later. Come on." The girls ran out the door, followed slowly by the boys and finally Lorelai.

"So what are we just supposed to sit here until he comes in?" Paris asked.

"He's already in." Tristan replied. Everyone looked around trying to spot Lorelai's man.

"Oh, not the old guy!" Madeline squealed, staring in disgust at Taylor Doose.

"Nope. Not him." Lorelai was grinning. This game sounded like fun.

"Is it that guy in the corner?" Jake asked, pointing towards Kirk.

"God no!"

"Well mom, he did like you whem we first moved here remember?" Rory reminded her of the day they bought their house.

"Oh yeah. Hey we still have to paint the house."

"Where did that come from?" Tristan asked.

"We decided that day, and I just remembered."

"Ok, if you tell me that it's the guy that came out from behind the curtain I will cry and then call the police." Paris told them staring at Jess.

"Oh my God. That kid is so annoying. No I would never date him, he's your age."

"Thank God,"

"I think Paris has a crush." Louise said quietly.

"I do not.

"Do too.

"Do not."

"Do too,"

"Do not."

"Ok, enough. Back to me."

"You're never going to get it." Rory told them, although that only made them study the males more closely.

"Him?" Andrew.

"No."

"That guy?" Moorey."

"He's married to our neighbour."

"The dude with the guitar?"

"Nah. That'd be weird he'd be writing me songs all the time. My ego would just get out of control."

"Here you go." Luke brought over the food they had ordered before and walked away after Lorelai said thank you' in a strange tone.

"Oh my God! It's him isn't it?" Paris asked.

"Jeez you guys are slow. He's been walking around here the entire time we'vebeen here." Tristan told them.

"Well if you'd given us a hint we might have gotten it faster." Jake replied, pretending to be angry.

"Well now we all know what I'm doing with my social life, can we hurry up and eat so we can pick what I'm going to wear?" Lorelai asked them.

Once they were finally finished, Paris offered rto go pay and took everyone's money to the counter.

"Hey." Jess didn't look at her as she stood there.

"Hey, um, I was at the table with-"

"Lorelai and the crazy kids. Yeah, that'll be twenty-five eighty." He replied looking up.

"Here you go. I'm Paris by the way."

"Jess."

"Jess, so you work here?"

"I live here. My uncle just wants me to have stability so he forces me to do this until closing."

"Oh, well at least he cares if you're stable."

"Yeah it's great fun." Paris was starting to get uncomfortable. She had never been good at talking to boys.

"I have to go." She said before turning and running out the door.

HARTFORD

Mr and Mrs Dugrey sat in their lawyer's office. He had just finished explaining to them that until Tristan turned eighteen, they could force him to come home. They were hoping that it would be enough time for them to convince him he should stay.

"So we'll send the papers in the morning." The lawyer told them.

"Send them to that grotesque diner. I'm sure Lorelai will be there." They'd had the family followed by a PI for a few days before proceeding with their talks of the law.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. If she wants to take away my only child then I am going to make her life hell." Caroline replied.

"Alright, we'll do it your way then."


	34. Let The War Begin

A/N: I'M BACK! FINALLY, I know, I know, I'm so sorry it took so long, but I just got so into Finn, and then I was working, and watching my GG DVDs, and then i turned 18... But anyway, here's a new chapter. I don't know when the next one will be up, but it'll probably a few weeks...

The night of Luke and Lorelai's date Lorelai got dressed with the assistance of Rory and then drove herself to the diner by 7:45.

Jess was busy pouring coffee, he looked up when she walked in and rolled his eyes.

"He's not ready yet."

"Oh... Ok, I'll just wait over here." She replied, taking a seat at the counter.

"He's really freaking out. It's actually kind of funny."

"Uh huh." She reached for an empty coffee cup on the counter and just starred into it, waiting.

"Lorelai Gilmore?"

"Hello?" she turned around to see a UPS guy standing behind her.

"Sign here please." He requested handing over a clip board.

"What's this?" she asked, signing and trying to read.

"You've just been served." He gave her the papers and walked away.

"I what? Hey! What's going on?" she called after him. Turning back she starred at what had just been given to her.

"You ready to go?" Luke asked coming down the stairs.

"This doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone want to sue me?"

"Who's suing you?"

"I don't know… blah, blah, blah, Dugrey. Oh my God! Tristan's parents are claiming I kidnapped him or something."

"Are you serious?" Luke took the legal documents and quickly scanned them. "Wow, what did you do to these people?"

"Nothing!"

"Well you had to have done something."

"Other than offer their son a life away from them that was supposed to be a little less complicated I did nothing!"

"Apparently they didn't like that." Luke looked at Lorelai and realised she looked really stressed out and confused.

"Hey listen, we can do this some other time if you would prefer to-"

"No. Tonight is fine. Tonight is good. We can do this now. I'm not going to let that manipulative bitch and her idiot husband ruin my night. Let's go." Lorelai stood, walked out to her jeep, put the papers away on the passenger seat and returned to Luke's side.

"So are we walking or…?"

"Oh no, I have my truck.'

"Cool."

They drove to Silvano's and were quickly shown to their table.

As Luke looked through the menu, Lorelai threw hers down in frustration.

"I can't believe them! They totally suck."

"Are you ok?" Luke asked, knowing it wasn't the right thing to say.

"No. This is so wrong. They are horrible people. They must know how much Tristan hates them."

"I'm sure-"

"But seriously, when they found out Rory was pregnant-"

"Rory's pregnant?" Luke was stunned.

"No. She thought she was…. It's a long story. Any way when they found out they were so cruel. They refused to take any of the blame, and I guess some of it was my fault but I didn't force the kids to have sex. They made that decision on their own."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather go home and talk to a lawyer or something?"

"No. I'm sorry. I'll stop now." She took a deep breathe, squeezed her eyes shut and smiled at Luke. "Ok, I'm fine now. Let's order."

The rest of the night went by smoothly. They ate a nice meal and then drove back to the diner. Lorelai walked Luke to the door and they kissed goodnight before she returned to her car.

The next morning Lorelai got up early and called her lawyer before waiting for Rory and Tristan to wake up.

"Morning mom."

"Hey Lorelai."

"Oh how was your date?" Rory asked remembering the night before.

"I'll get to that in a minute, but first there's something we all need to talk about." She replied, indicating they should sit

"What's wrong?" Tristan wanted to know. He wasn't used to seeing 'the coolest Chilton mom' freaked out.

"Last night I got some papers from Greg Kane." She replied. Tristan recognised the name instantly.

"What do they want?" he asked referring to his parents.

"Who?" Rory was confused.

"My parents. Kane's their lawyer."

"They're suing me for custody of you. They claim I've brainwashed you into staying here, or that you're being held against your own will."

"That's crazy. I left them because they didn't support my decisions."

"I know honey. It's ok. We'll fight them and everything will be fine." Lorelai wanted to keep them calm, but she didn't think that would work because she wasn't calm.

"Mom?" Rory had tears in her eyes.

"Yes baby?"

"Please don't let them keep Tristan and I apart." She begged.

"That's not going to happen. I won't let it." Tristan told her taking her hand into his.

"Don't worry Rory. I'm going to fix it. I was talking to John, and he said that he'll do everything he can to keep us together." Rory had known the family lawyer her entire life. John Echolls had been the one to handle Lorelai's divorce. He was really good at his job, that's why everything had been taken care of so fast. His father had worked for Richard and Emily.

"You guys can come with me to Hartford tomorrow instead of going to school. John's squeezing me in at lunch."

"Maybe we should. Just so we know what we're dealing with." Tristan decided. He knew his parents, and he knew they would fight dirty if they had to.

Rory nodded. She wiped her eyes and smiled at her mom.

"So now can you tell s about your date?" she asked, causing the other two to laugh.

"Well I got to the diner and I was waiting for Luke when a nice UPS guy handed me these legal documents. We left for the restaurant and I spent most of the night tlking about that and… Oh God he must think I'm insane!"

"The man has met you before Lorelai. I'm pretty sure he already knows." Tristan replied.

"Quiet. I want to hear the rest of the story." Rory instructed.

"Well we had dinner, went back to the diner, he kissed me good night and I came home."

"He kissed you good night?" Rory asked, smiling.

"Oh, he's so dreamy. You're the luckiest girl in town." Tristan said in a high pitched voice.

"Ok, see, you're no fun in this conversation. Go do something masculine while we have girl talk." Lorelai got up to pour coffees.

"Masculine. Ok. Sure." He stood up and took his cell phone as he walked out of the house.

"So tell me all the best bits again." Rory said as they sat with their drinks.

"Anthony Dugrey speaking." Tristan called the private number, not wanting to deal with the hassle of secretaries and being put on hold. He'd walked down to the lake, trying to think of a rational waty to have this conversation. The tone in his father's voice just let all of that fly away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing suing Lorelai?" he demanded, instead of a simple, 'hi dad.'

"Son, how have you been?"

"I was great until this morning when I found out you were trying to ruin our lives."

"I'm trying to make your life better. You should be at home with your family-"

"I am. Rory is my life. She and Lorelai are my family now, and if you can't accept that, that's just too damn bad." It was clear that both men were very angry by this point.

"You are my son and you will return to your home wether-"

"Whether I like it or not? You need to start listening old man. I hate you and your wife. I never want to see either one of you again. And no matter what you do to us, Rory and I are staying together, with Lorelai in Stars Hollow." He angrily pressed the 'End Call' button and kicked a rock into the water as he cursed under his breathe.

HARTFORD

Anthony sat at his desk in his office, clutching hise right arm. He tried to removed his tie, but his fingers wouldn't co-operate.

Reaching out, he randomly hit buttons on his phone until he received an answer.

"Yes, Mr. Dugrey?" the secretary asked.

"Help… me." He said as loudly as possible, although it wasn't too far above a whisper.

"Mr. Dugrey, did you need something?"

"Help!" He was louder that time but she didn't understand.

A few moments later she knocked on the door.

"May I come in sir?" he grunted and she poked her head in. Realising there was something seriously wrong, she ran in and called an ambulance, promising the old man that everything would be alright.

So, should he live or die? I haven't decided yet. I never really liked Tristan's parents. Or Paris' for that matter. Even though we only saw Paris' mom for a couple of minutes(I love the woman that played her though.) and Tristan's dad for a few seconds, I have a deep dislike for all of them. Tell me in your reviews what your opinion is on the situation.


	35. NOT A NEW CHAPTER !

I'm sorry to anyone waiting for an update for this story. I guess i kind of lost interest. I'm writing 6 other story's at once; 3 PDLD's. a Jeyton, a Brooke/ Jake, and the OTH/ GG crossover.i just don't have the energy for this one right now. I might come back to this eventually. Sorry again, but look out for some of my new stuff, hopefully coming soonn. 


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